
Tlie Civil Services of 
WliUiaTTi KcBvy HarrisOTi 
vs/vtU Extracts irro-m liis aidires5es| 




Glass. 
Book. 



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THE 



CIVIL SERVICES 



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OP 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 



WITH EXTRACTS FROM H[S 



ADDRESSES, SPEECHES, AND LETTERS, 



AND A 



SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 



The scales have at last fallen from tlie eyes of the people ! Relieved from the moral 
ophthalmia that has so long blinded them, they now see that those to whom they 
have confided the administration of their government have abused their high trust. 
The people at length KNOW their faithless and ungrateful rulers, and to KNOW 
them is to determine to REJECT them. 

Before the men who are now in power came into office, they were lavish in their 
promises of REFORM ; — they have been guilty of the grossest CORRUPTION. 
They spoke loudly of RETRENCHMENT and ECONOMY ;— they have increased 
the public expenditures from THIRTEEN millions to THIRTY-NINE millions of 
dollars ! and have not only wasted the revenues of the country by this unparalleled 
EXTRAVAGANCE, but, by their reckless policy, they have diminished her re- 
sources, and have again encumbered her with a NATIONAL DEBT. They held 
out the most flattering assurances of a continued and increased PROSPERITY 
throughout the land. How have they kept their promise? By their criminal mis- 
management and abuse of power they have checked manufactures, crippled com- 
merce, destroyed credit, deprived agriculture of its due reward, and blighted the 
prospects and paralyzed the industry of the honest labourer ; and when the farmer, 
the merchant, or the mechanic, points to his fallen fortunes and ruined hopes, his 
just complaints are hurled back by his pampered rulers with laughing scorn — (their 
salaries are increased in value^thp iron enters not into their souls) — and he is de- 
ridingly told, in the language of toeio u'ch-leafier, Mr,' Bint on, oflVljssouri, to "study 
the financial history of Holland, France,' and' (^tiba—t'oWow their example — imitate 



1 1 sjj^ L:)YZ 

2 Corruption of the present ^Administration. ^,6 

them." The citizens of a FREE REPUBLIC are told to follow the example of 
TYRANNICAL MONARCHIES! to imitate them ! to reduce the price of produce, 
of property, and of labour to one-fourth of what it has been, and to debase the con- 
dition of FREEMEN to that of abject SLAVES ! While seeking office, they bowed 
low to the people, and professed to be republicans of the purest school of democracy. 
Since they have attained their object, they have pursued unblushingly the most 
arbitrary measures, and have even dared to cite the example of foreign despotisms 
as good authority for their misdeeds. They have already seized upon the PUBLIC 
PURSE, in their practical anticipation of their favourite scheme, the Sub-Treasury, 
and have endeavoured to grasp the SWORD OF TFIE NATION by iheir new 
Militia System, as proposed and urged by the Secretary of War, and as recom- 
mended by the Chief Executive in his last annual message to Congress; — an iniqui- 
tous attempt to raise a STANDING ARMY of 200,000 men— 100,000 of whono 
should be drafted and called into service whenever the PRESIDENT chose to order 
them out, and should be under HIS control, and subject to such regulations as HE 
might see ft to prescribe. The celebrated historian of the Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire, says: "In whatever State an individual unites in his person the 
execution of the laws, the command of the army, and the management of the revemie, 
that State may be termed a MONARCHY." Has not this administration aimed at 
a MONARCHY then ? Does it not possess " the execution of the laws'!" Has it 
not pursued its infamous Sub-Treasury scheme, though thrice rejected by the people, 
until it has acquired an absolute control over "the management of the revenue T' 
And has it not taken cunningly devised steps to obtain "the command of the army!" 
And had it succeeded in all its wild and reckless attempts, would it not have con- 
verted our free government into a DESPOTISM in fact, even were it suffered siilJ 
to retain a republican name 1 

But, happily, this monstrous scheme of grasping ambition has failed. Our noble 
country, whose freedom was purchased by the wisdom and valour of our patriotic 
sires, is not yet doomed to become the prey of a designing despot, whose sole en- 
deavour, since his election to office, has been, not to promote the welfare »f the, 
people, but to perpetuate his own power, to pamper and reward his unscrupulous 
partisans, and to humble the labouring classes of his fellow-citizens to the miserable 
condition of European serfs. 

Of these facts the people are now aware. They have been too long deluded by 
specious pretences and flattering hopes, and are at length aroused to a just sense of 
the injuries that have been heaped upon them by the evil measures and corrupt 
policy of this administration, and have determined to redress their wrongs. 

The political position of our country, as it now exists, presents a very singular 
anomaly. It can scarcely be said that party is now striving with party for the 
ascendancy; but rather that THE PEOPLE, the GREAT MASS OF THE 
PEOPLE, of all parties and all conditions, have united in opposition to the drilled 
ranks of the administration office-holders, and their host of hired and subservient 
myrmidons — and not for the purpose of regaining their power merely, but for the 
welfare, almost the existence of their country as a free republic, and for the preser- 
vation of her most cherished institutions. 

THE PEOPLE, before whom all tyrants tremble, have arisen in their majesty to 
assert their indeppn^xe-nce; ani^ia 'shake off ithe; iron fetters which they had almost 
suffered to be riveted -upon rh^ftl."' "This it is 'which has struck dismay and terror 



Harrisoji's Civil Services. 3 

into the hearts of the administration office-holders, and has calmed the fears, excited 
the hopes, and restored the confidence of all true lovers of their country. 

The fiat has gone forth ! The omnipotent voice of the people — a voice of many- 
thunders — is heard in startling echoes from State to State along the Atlantic shore, 
and is answered back in lengthened and reverberating peals from every section of 
the mighty Empire of the West ! From mountain to mountain, — from river to river, 
— from sea to sea,— in prairie, valley, and glen, — the joyful shout is prolonged, daily 
swelling in volume and strength, and proclaiming with irresistible truth, that the 
days of this evil administration are numbered,— that the People and the Government, 
so long virtually divorced, are once more to be firmly united, — and that on the 
4th of March, 1841, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the patriot, the statesman, v 
the hero, the honest farmer, and the Poor Man's Friend, will be inaugurated 
PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



Political indications, the " shadows of 
coming events," now clearly point out that 
General Harrison is to be our next Pre- 
sident. The People are therefore very 
naturally desirous to become familiar with 
the opinions and sentiments he has hereto- 
fore avowed, that lliey may more fairly es- 
timate the principles on which he will ad- 
minister the Government. His patriotism, 
his well-tried integrity, his devotion to the 
interests of the people, and his distinguished 
services as a citizen soldier, are now wide- 
ly known, and are freely admitted by all 
but the most reckless of his opponents. But 
the more brilliant always overshadow the 
more quiet, but not less useful services ; — 
and hence it is that the merits of William 
Henry Harrison as a Civilian and Legis- 
lator, are less known than his achieve- 
ments as a patriot soldier and successful 
commander. Many of our fellow-citizens 
have neither time nor opportunity to ex- 
amine our public documents and histories 
relating to his civil services, nor to search 
for and read the various letters and ad- 
dresses in which he has frankly and ho- 
nestly avowed the pure republican princi- 
ples which have always been his guide and 
rule of action : to their attention this sketch 
is offered. 

William Henry Harrison was born on 
the 9ih day of February, 1773, at Berke- 
ley, on James River, in the county of 
Cliarles City, in the Slate of Virginia. The 
family from which he is descended settled 



in that province in the year 1640. At an 
extremely early period in the history of 
Virginia, the name of Harrison appears 
among the most prominent mentioned in 
the public annals ; and the honourable sta- 
tion which it then held has descended unsul- 
lied to our own times. 

Benjamin Harrison, the father of the 
subject of this sketch, was one of the fore- 
most and most conspicuous patriots of our 
country. He was a very distinguished 
member of the Continental Congress, in 
1774, 1775, and 1776; was chairman of 
the Committee of the whole House when 
the Declaration of Independence was finally 
agreed to ; and his signature is annexed to 
that celebrated document. This eminent 
patriot died in 1791. During the Revolu- 
tion, he had expended a large fortune in 
the service of his country, and therfore left 
his children but little inheritance save his 
noble example and the memory of his de- 
votion to patriotism and liberty. 

Harrison's education. 

Young Harrison was left under the guar- 
dianship of Robert Morris, the great finan- 
cier of the Revolution. He was educated 
at Hampden Sydney College. He then 
repaired to Philadelphia, and commenced 
the study of medicine under the instruction 
of the learned and patriotic Dr. Benjamin 
Rush. Both Morris and Rush were friends 
of his father, and, like him, were Signers 



Harrison a Delegate to Congress. 



of the Declaration of Indepentlence. Un- 
der their guardianship and influence, the 
love of liberty and devotion to his country, 
which his father had early instilled into his 
mind, were nourished and increased. 

HARRISON RECEIVES A COMMISSION FROM 
WASHINGTON. 

About this period, the barbarous hostili- 
ties of the Indians on our northwestern 
borders began to excite public indignation; 
and our young student, full of generous 
impulses, resolved to relinquish his profes- 
sional pursuits and join the army destined 

, to the defence of the Ohio frontier. Our 
military service was then both toilsome and 
perilous ; but the determined courage and 
elevated motives of Harrison induced him 
to overlook every such obstacle, and devote 
his life to the defence of his country. His 
intention was opposed by his guardian and 
by many of his friends ; but it was con- 
firmed by the cordial approval of the im- 
mortal TFashington, to whom he applied 
in person ; and from the hands of the re- 
vered Father of his Country, Harrison re- 

' ceived the commission of ensign in the first 
regiment United Slates Artillery; and in 
November, 1791, when but nineteen years 
of age, he marched on foot to Pittsburgh, 
and descending the Ohio, joined his regi- 
ment at Fort Washington. 

As it is not our purpose to dwell upon 
the military career of Harrison, we will 
merely say, that during the ensuing war 
with the Indians, he greaUy distinguished 
himself by his daring energy, his fearless 
intrepidity, and his strict attention to dis- 
cipline. He was officially noticed m terms 
of the highest encomium by General St. 
Clair, and by General Wayne, who selected 
him as one of his aides ; and at the close 
of the war, having been promoted to a cap- 
taincy, he was left in command at Fort 
Washington, the most important post in 
our western country. 

HARRISON RETIRES TO PRIVATE LIFE. 

In 1797, the war being ended, and there 
existing no longer an opportunity to serve 
his country in the field. Captain Harrison 
resigned his commission, and retired to his 
log cabin at North Bend, on the banks of 
the Ohio. Turning his sword into a plough- 
share, he commenced the cultivation of the 
soil, and identified himself with the people 



whose battles he had fought, and whose 
lives he had perilled his own to defend. 

HARRISON AS SECRETARY OF THE NORTH- 
WEST TERRITORY. 

In 1798, Mr. Harrison was appointed 
Secretary, and became ex o^cio lieutenant- 
governor of the Northwestern Territory. 
In the absence of Governor St. Clair, he 
discharged the executive duties in a man- 
ner that won him the approbation and 
warm esteem of the people. In the fol- 
lowing year, the Territory was admitted to 
the second grade of government, and the 
legislative council elected him their dele- 
gate to Congress. 

HARRISON AS A DELEGATE TO CONGRESS. 
HIS LAND BILL. 

He took his seat in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, at the first session of the sixth 
Congress, in December, 1799. There 
were then in Congress some of the ablest 
and most enlightened statesmen, and some 
of the most eloquent men, our country has 
ever produced. Yet in this severe ordeal, 
the abilities and manly energies of Mr. 
Harrison soon commanded universal re- 
spect. At this period, the all-engrossing 
subject in the West, and one in which our 
whole country had a deep interest, was the 
sale of our public lands. The manner in 
which these lands had hitherto been di»> 
posed of, had created great dissatisfaction 
among the people. They had been sold 
only in large tracts ; the smallest of which 
included, at least, four thousand acres ; and 
as the minimum price was at that time two 
dollars per acre, a great majority of the 
new settlers were utterly precluded from 
becoming possessors of land by an original 
purchase from the government. Our hardy 
yeomanry, with limited pecuniary means, 
were thus entirely shut out from all chance 
of competition with wealthy speculators 
and grasping monopolists, — the poorer em- 
igrants were becoming disheartened at the 
chilling prospects before them, and the set- 
tlement of the new country was greatly re- 
tarded. Fully aware of the impolicy and 
injustice of this state of things, and true to 
the trust confided to him, Mr. Harrison's 
earliest legislative eflTorts were made to 
overthrow this exclusive and pernicious 
system. He aroused the attention of Con- 
gress to the consideration of this important 



Harrison the Poor Man's Friend. 



subject, and evinced so iiilimate an acquaint followed up the principle thus introduced 
tance with the facts and business details by Mr. Harrison, until now our public 
connected with it, that he was appointed lands may be bought in tracts of but eighty 
chairman of a committee raised to examine acres each, and at a price of only one dol- 
into and report on the existing mode of lar and twenty-five cents per acre— where- 
disposing of the public lands ; the only in- las, but for the first blow at the old system 
stance, it is believed, in which that honour: struck by Mr. Harrison, and but for the 
has been conferred on a territorial delegate.! wise and just principle first introduced by 
After a proper investigation, he presented him, that exclusive system might perhaps 
a report, accompanied by a bill, the princi- still have continued— in which case we feel 



pal object of which was to reduce the size 
of the tracts of public land offered for sale, 
to such a smaller number of acres as would 
place them within the reach of actual set- 
tlers. This masterly report, which was 
the joint production of himself and Mr. 
Gallatin, together with the great ability and 
eloquence with which he defended his bill 
from the powerful opposition it encountered 
in the House, gained Mr. Harrison a repu- 
tation rarely attained by so young a stales- 
man. The bill was carried triumphantly 
in the House, and finally, after some 
amendments, passed the Senate. The re- 
sult was, that the public lands, instead of 
being offered only in large tracts, of which 
four thousand acres was the smallest size, 
were now to be sold in alternate sections 
and half sections — the former containing 
640, and the latter 320 acres each. The 
point gained was of immense importance, 
since, from the low price of these lands, 
and the small amount of purchase money 
required to be paid, they were now, with 
the aid of industry, within the reach of 
nearly all the poorer emigrants and actual 
settlers, who felt a natural desire to own 
the fee simple of their homes, and of the 
lands they subdued from the wilderness. 
Thousands of the hardy and industrious 
farmers of our Northern and Middle States, 
and many of the poorer planters of the 
South, availed themselves of the fair field 
which was now opened for emigration and 
enterprise; and we may justly consider 
this happy result, which Mr. Harrison was 
so instrumental in producing, as one of the 
leading causes of the rapid settlement and 
prosperity of our western country. Mr. 
Harrison is therefore jusdy enlided to the 
proud appellation of being the Father of 
the Land System, and the Poor Man's 
Friend. 

The justice and true policy of reducing 
the size of the tracts of public lands offered 
for sale having been once admitted, subse- 
quent legislators have found it not only a 
politic, but a popular measure, and have 



assured of being within bounds in assertmg 
that the great valley of the Mississippi, the 
mighty empire of the West, would not, at 
this day, have numbered one half the popu- 
lation, nor boasted a moiety of the wealth 
it now contains. 

On this important subject Mr. Harrison 
addressed a circular to the people of the 
Territory, dated the 14ih of May, 1800, 
from which we make the following quota- 
lion. 

*' Amongst the variety of objects which en- 
gaged my attention, as particularly interesting 
to our Territory, none appeared to me of so 
much importance as the adoption of a system 
for the sale of the public lands, which would 
give more favourable terms to that class of 
purchasers who are likely to become actual 
settlers, than was offered by the existing laws 
upon that subject. Conformably to this idea, 
I procured the passage of a resolution, at an 
early period, for the appointment of a com- 
mittee to take the matter into consideration; 
and shortly after, I reported a bill containing 
terms for the purchaser as favourable as could 
have been expected. The bill was adopted by 
the House of Representatives without any ma- 
terial alteration ; but in the Senate, amend- 
ments were introduced obliging the purchaser 
to pay interest on that part of the money for 
which a credit was given, from the date of the 
purchase, and directing that one half the land 
(instead of the whole, as was provided by the 
bill from ihe House of Representatives) should 
be sold in half sections of three hundred and 
twenty acres, and the other half in whole sec- 
tions of six hundred and forty acres. All my 
exertions, aided by some of the ablest mem- 
bers of the lower house, at a conference for 
that purpose, were not sufficient to induce the 
Senate to recede from their amendments ; but 
upon the whole, there is cause of congratula- 
tion to my fellow-citizens, that terms so fa- 
vourable as the bill still contains, have been 
procured. This law promises to be the foun- 
dation of a great increase of population and 
wealth to our country ; for although the mini- 
mum price of the land is still fixed at two dol- 
lars per acre, the time for making payments 
has been so extended as to put it in the power 
of every industrious man to comply with them ; 
it being only necessary to pay one-fourth part 



6 



Harrison as Governor of Indiana. 



of the money in hand, and the balance at the 
end of two, three, and four years ; besides this, 
the odious circumstance of forfeiture, which 
was made the penalty of failing in the pay- 
ments under the old law, is entirely abolished, 
and the purchaser is allowed one year after 
the last payment is due to collect the money ; 
if the land is not then paid for, it is sold, and 
after the public have been reimbursed, the 
balance of the money is returned to the pur- 
chaser. Four land offices are directed to be 
opened, one at Cincinnati, one at Chilicothe, 
one at Marietta, and one at Steubenville, for 
the sale of the lands in the neighbourhood of 
those places. In a communication of this 
kind, it is impossible to detail all the provi- 
sions of the law. I have, however, sent a 
copy of it to the printers at Cincinnati, with 
a request that they would publish it several 
weeks." 



HARRISON AS GOVERNOR OF INDIANA. 

In the year 1800, the Northwestern 
Territory was divided. That part of the 
old territory, included within the present 
boundaries of Ohio and Michigan, retained 
its former name ; and the immense extent 
of country northwest of this, was erected 
into a separate government, and received 
the name of Indiana. Soon after this 
division had taken place, Mr. Harrison 
resigned his seat in Congress, and was 
appointed governor of the new territory. 
This appointment gave great satisfaction 
to the people of Indiana, with whom the 
patriotic exertions of Mr. Harrison had 
rendered him deservedly popular ; and it 
was, at the same time, the strongest evi- 
dence of the confidence with which the 
General Government relied upon his inte- 
grity, prudence, and capacity for civil 
government. 

The vast extent of this new territory 
included what now constitutes the states 
of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, and the 
territory of Wisconsin. But the small 
population it then contained was thinly 
scattered through a vast widerness, and 
only three white settlements of any note 
existed within its boundaries. One of 
these was at the seat of government, Vin- 
cennes, a small town originally built by 
the French, and beautifully and advanta- 
geously situated on the banks of the Wa- 
bash; the second, known as Clark's Grant, 
was at the Falls of the Ohio, nearly oppo- 
site Louisville, about one hundred miles 
from Vincennes ; and the third was the 
French settlement on the banks of the 



Mississippi, near St, Louis, and more than 
two hundred miles distant from the seat of 
government. The communication between 
these remote points was, at all times, diffi- 
cult and toilsome, and often attended with 
great danger. There existed no practi- 
cable roads, and nearly all the intermediate 
country was occupied by the Indians, or 
overrun by their hunting parties. Most 
of these savage tribes, though professing 
to be friendly, were restless and dissatis- 
fied ; and their leading chiefs still nursed a 
moody hope of revenge for the mortifying 
defeat they had sustained, six years before, 
at the battle of the Maumee Rapids. Art- 
ful and treacherous, numerous, warlike, 
and thirsting for plunder, they kept this 
remote frontier in continual excitement and 
alarm. The angry feelings of our hardy 
borderers were frequently roused by some 
robbery or atrocious aggression committed 
by the more evil-disposed among their 
savage neighbours, and quarrels often en- 
sued, which threatened the peace of the 
wiiole community. 

Such was the existing state of things in 
Indiana Territory, when Mr. Harrison was 
appointed to the administration of its go- 
vernment. As governor of a frontier terri- 
tory so peculiarly situated, .Mr. Harrison 
was invested with civil powers of the most 
important nature, as well as with military 
authority. Besides the ordinary powers 
which he held, ex-qfficio, as governor, he 
had the sole power uf dividing the distn.ct 
into counties and townships; and, with 
the aid of the judges, had full authority to 
adopt and publish such laws, both civil and 
criminal, of the original states, as might 
be necessary and best adapted to the wants 
and situation of the district; and he had 
the appointment of all the magistrates and 
other civil officers. He was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia, and all the 
officers below the rank of general received 
their commissions from him. He was like- 
wise appointed superintendent of Indian 
affiiirs, and agent and representative, of the 
General Government; in performance of the 
duties of which office, he was required to 
keep up a constant and voluminous corre- 
spondence with the Cabinet at Washington. 
He had also the unusual power of confer- 
ring on a numerous class of individuals, a 
legal title to large grants of land, on which 
they before held merely an equitable claim. 
His sole signature was sufficient, without 
any other formality, to give a valid title to 



Governor Harrison's Treaties with the Indians. 



these extensive and valuable tracts of land. 
No oilier formality or publicity was re 
quired, and whatever secret collusion might 
have existed between the claimant and the 
governor, the title would still have been 
unquestionable before any. legal tribunal. 
Possessed of this immense power, without 
check or limitation, opportunities were 
continually before him of accumulating a 
princely fortune ; but the scrupulous sense 
of honour, which has always characterized 
Mr. Harrison, would never permit him to 
speculate in lands over which he had any 
control. During the whole of the time 
that he held this important trust, he never 
availed himself of his peculiar advantages 
to promote his own interests either directly 
or indirectly ; and it is a fact worthy of 
particular note, that, even to the present 
time, he has never owned a single acre of 
land, the title to which, originally, ema- 
nated from himself as the representative of 
the government. No shadow of suspicion 
has ever clouded his honour, his honesty 
or disinterestedness ; and not a murmur 
ever accused him of partiality, or even of 
unnecessary delay, in the performance of 
this delicate duty. We allude to this to 
show that the integrity of Mr. Harrison is 
well-tried and practical ; and that it has 
always shone with the purest lustre when 
assailed by the strongest temptations. 

HARRISON IS APPOINTED BY JEFFERSON" TO 
TREAT WITH THE INDIANS. 

In 1803, Governor Harrison was ap- 
pointed a commissioner to treat with the 
Indians, and thus, a further and more ex- 
traordinary power was conferred on him in 
addition to those already enumerated. His 
nomination to this office was made on the 
3d of February, 1803, in the following 
words : 

"I nominate William Henry Harrison, 
of Indiana, to be a commisioner to enter 
into any treaty or treaties, tvhich may be 
necessary, with any Indian tribes north- 
west of the Ohio, and within the jurisdic- 
tion of the United States, on the subject of 
boundary or lands. 

" Thomas Jefferson." 

Harrison's treaties with the Indians. 

By virtue of this authority, in the fol- 
lowing year Harrison succeeded in nego- 
tiating a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes ; 



and besides the amicable relations esta- 
blished with those tribes, he obtained the 
cession of an extensive tract of country, 
including the whole of the valuable region 
between the river Illinois and the Missis- 
sippi, with a norihern boinidary, stretching 
from the head of Fox river to a point on 
the VVisconsin, thirty-six miles above its 
mouth. This was the\ largest cession of 
lands that had ever yet been made by the 
Indians at any one time. Considerable 
tracts of land between the Ohio and the 
Wabash, and extending from Vmcennes 
westward to the Mississippi, were like- 
wise purchased by annuities from the 
Delawares and the Miamies. We may 
here appropriately remark, that during the 
entire course of his administration, Harri- 
son, effected thirteen important treaties 
with the different tribes, on the most ad- 
vantageous terms; and obtained from them, 
at various times, the cession of large tracts 
of land, amounting in all, to more than 
sixty millions of acres, and embracing 
a large portion of the richest region in 
our country. 

In their frequent intercourse with Gover- 
nor Harrison, the Indians had learned to 
respect his undaunted firmness, and were, 
at the same time, conciliated by his kind- 
ness of manner and considerate forbearance. 
This, with his intimate knowledge of the 
Indian character, is the true secret of the 
remarkable success invariably attendant 
upon every treaty he has attempted to 
negotiate. 

The various and arduous duties of the 
Governor of Indiana, required for this office 
a man of very superior abilities and qualifi- 
cations, and of a rare temperament — one 
possessed of a stern integrity and prudent 
moderation, with wisdom in the exercise 
of the extensive powers entrusted to him, 
accompanied by the most unwavering firm- 
ness. Such a man Governor Harrison, in 
the long course of his administration, fully 
proved himself to be. The plainest evi- 
dence that can be presented to those who 
are not familiar with the history of Indiana, 
during this eventful period, of the peculiar 
fitness of Governor Harrison for this im- 
portant station, of the confidence reposed 
in him, and of the great popularity he at- 
tained while in the exercise of so delicate 
a trust, is the unquestionable fact, that, for 
thirteen j^ears, at every successive expira- 
tion of his term of office, he was re-appoint- 
ed, at the earnest solicitation of the people 



8 



Harrisoyi's Address to the Legislature. 



of liie Territory, and with the public ex- suffrage and self-government, he was true 
pression of the most flattering approbation j to his principles even when against his 
on the part of our chief Executive. Audi interest and he strenuously urged this 
this loo, notwithstanding the entire change | change of government, 
which had taken place within tliat time in; Nearly two years prior to this time, by 
the ruling politics of the country — his first, a brilliant negotiation, a treaty had been 
appointment having been made by Mr. effected in Paris, by which I>ouisiana was 



Adams, his second and third by Mr. Jeffer 
son, and his fourth by Mr. Madison. The 
following extract from the resolution, 
unanimously passed by the House of Re- 
presentatives of Indiana, in tiie year 1809. 
requesting the re-appointment of Governor 
Harrison, will show the estimate which a 
long acquaintance had taught them of his 
worth : "They (the House of Representa 



purchased by our government from France 
(to whom it had been ceded by Spain) for 
eighty millions of francs, or about fifteen 
millions of dollars; and we were thus finally 
enabled to realize the boundaries of the 
ancient charters granted by the British 
monarchs to their American colonies, and 
extend the limits of the territory of the 
United States " from sea to sea." Upon 



tives) cannot forbear recommending to, and our obtaining actual possession of Loui- 



requesting of, the President and Senate, 
most earnestly in their own names, and in 
the names of their constituents, the re-ap- 
pointinent of the present governor, William 
Henry Harrison, — because lie possesses 
the good wishes and afl'ection of a great 
majority of his fellow-citizens; — because 
they believe him sincerely attached to the 
Union, the prosperity of the United Slates, 
and the administration of ils government; 
because they believe him in a superior 
degree capable of promoting the interest of 
our Territory, from long experience and 
laborious attention to its concerns, from 
his influence over the Indians, and wise 
and disinterested management of that de- 
partment; and because they have confi- 
dence in his virtues, talents, and repub- 
licanism." 

If necessary, we might fill a goodly 
volume wilh extracts from public docu- 
ments of a similar nature; but what strong- 
er proof than ihis could we have of the 
popularity of Governor Harrison, and of 
the entire confidence wilh which the peo- 
ple relied on his experience, his integrity, 
and his ability as a statesman ? 

In 1805, the Territory of Indiana -was 
advanced to the second grade of govern- 
ment under the new system. The citizens 
were allowed to elect a Territorial House 
of Assembly, by which ten persons were 



siana, the jurisdiction of Governor Harri- 
son became greatly enlarged, and the re- 
sponsibility and laborious duties of his sta- 
tion were consequently much increased. 
The governor refers to this annexion of 
Louisiana to the United States, in his 
address at the first session of the territorial 
legislature — a document so remarkable for 
high-minded and purely republican spirit, 
and for its clearness and fluency of style, 
that notwithstanding our narrow limits we 
cannot refrain from laying some portions 
of it before oui readers. 

Harrison's address to the legislature. 

" Upon a careful review of our situation," 
said Governor Harrison, " it will be found tl^t 
we have much cause of felicitation, whether it 
respects our present enjoyments or our future 
prosperity. An enlightened and generous 
policy has for ever removed all cause of con- 
tention with our western neighbours. The 
mighty river which separates us from the 
Louisianians will never be stained with the 
blood of contending nations, but will prove the 
bond of our union, and will convey upon its 
bosom, in the course of many thousand miles, 
the produce of our great and united empire. 
The astonished traveller will behold upon 
either bank a people governed by the same 
laws, pursuing the same objects, and warmed 
with the same love of liberty and science. 
And if, in the immense distance, a small point 
nominated, out of whom the president; should present itself, where other laws and 
appointed five as a legislative council to| other manners prevail, the contrast it will af- 
complete the territorial legislature. This ford will serve the useful purpose of demon- 
measure deprived Governor Harrison of ^fating the great superiority of a republican 
■ 1 . . • •, government, and how far the uncontrolled and 

much power and jrreai patronage, since it" ,. ,.', , .e „ ., „.-„.i^ .i ^ „„ , 
, •. , i^irii 1 unbiassed industry of freemen excels the cau- 

threw into the hands of the people the ^j^^^ ^^j ^3^5^,^/^ exertions of the subjects 
election of many ofiicers who were before ofjgspoiic power. 

appointed by the executive — but always a] "The acquisition of Louisiana will form an 
ready advocate for the republican rights of, important epoch in the history of our country. 



Governor Harrison's Address in 1807. 



9 



It has secured the happiness of millions, who 
will bless the moment of their emancipation, 
and the generous policy which has secured to 
them the rights of men. To us it has pro- 
duced immediate and important advantages. 
We are no longer apprehensive of waging an 
eternal v/ar with the numerous and warlike 
tribes of aborigines that surround us, and per- 
haps being reduced to the dreadful alternative 
of submitting to their depredations, or of ex- 
terminating them from the earth. 

"By cutting off their communication with 
every foreign power, and forcing them to pro- 
cure from ourselves the arms and ammunition, 
and such of the European manufactures as 
habit has to them rendered necessary, we 
have not only secured their entire dependence, 
but the means of ameliorating their condition, 
and of devoting to some useful and beneficial 
purpose the ardour and energy of mind which 
are now devoted to war and destruction. 
The policy of the United Stales, with regard 
to the savages within their territories, forms a 
striking contrast with the conduct of other civil- 
ized nations. The measures of the latter ap- 
pear to have been well calculated for the effect 
which has produced the entire extirpation of 
the unhappy people whose country they have 
usurped. It is in the United States alone that 
laws have been passed, not only for their 
safety and protection from every species of 
injury, but considerable sums of money have 
been appropriated, and agents employed, to 
humanize their minds, and instruct them in 
such arts of civilized life as tiiey are capable 
of receiving. To provide a substitute for the 
chase, from which they derive their support, 
and which, from the extension of our settle- 
ments, is daily becoming more precarious, has 
been considered a sacred duty. The humane 
and benevolent intentions of the government, 
however, will for ever be defeated, unless ef- 
fectual measures be devised to prevent the 
sale of ardent spirits to those unhappy people. 
The law which has been passed by Congress 
for that p\irpose has been found entirely inef- 
fectual, because its operation has been con- 
strued to relate to the Indian country exclu- 
sively. In calling your attention to this sub- 
ject, gentlemen, I am persuaded that it is 
unnecessary to remind you, that the article 
of compact makes it your duty to attend to it. 
The interests of your constituents, the interests 
of the miserable Indians, and your own feel- 
ings, will sufficiently urge you to take it into 
your most serious consideration, and provide 
the remedy which is to save thousands of our 
fellow-creatures. So destructive has the pro 
gress of intemperance been among them, that 
whole villages have been swept away. A 



through their country, and threatens the anni- 
hilation of the whole race. Is it then to be 
admitted as a political axiom, that the neigh- 
bourhood of a civilized nation is incompatible 
with the existence of savages '\ Are the bless- 
ings of our republican government only to be 
feft by ourselves"? And are the natives of 
North America to experience the same fate 
with their brethren of the southern continent? 
It is with you, gentlemen, to divert from those 
children of nature the ruin that hangs over 
them. Nor can 1 believe that the time will 
be considered misspent, which is devoted to 
an object so consistent with the spirit of Chris- 
tianity, and with the principles of republican- 
ism." 



The reply of the Territorial Assembly to 
this address, manifested the high estimation 
in which Governor Harrison was held ; and 
is one of the many proofs of his singular 
popularity, and of the entire confidence re- 
posed in his abilities, and in his disinte- 
restedness and moderation in the exercise 
of the extensive authority entrusted to him. 

Tiie following quotations are made from 
an address delivered by Governor Harrison 
to the Legislature in August, 1807. 

"I have directed the auditor to lay before 
you, gentlemen, a statement of the causes 
which have produced the embarrassments in 
the collection of the taxes for the present year, 
which will enable you to determine more cor- 
rectly on the remedy to be applied. An amen- 
datory act to the one which is now in force, 
may answer for the present; but nothing less, 
in my opinion, than a total change in the sys- 
tem, will save us in the future from the dis- 
agreeable consequences of a deficit revenue 
and an empty treasury. The defects in the 
present system were early foreseen ; and at 
the opening of the last session, 1 strongly re- 
commended to the two houses the adoption of 
a different plan. The combination of so many 
circumstances, such as this law requires, must 
always render the execution of it uncertain and 
precarious. It appears to me, also, that it is 
bottomed on an improper principle. The 
quantum and the ratio of the tax should be 
fixed by the legislature alone, and not by an 
executive officer. This important subject, 
gentlemen, claims your earliest attention. It 
will require the exercise of much industry and 
patience to remedy the evils which have arisen 
from the present unfortunate system, and to 
provide one which will give certainty and 
stability to your revenue. In affairs of this 
miserable remnant is all that remains, to mark kind, experience is the best guide that the 
the names and situation of many numerous legislator can follow. He will seek out cases 
and warlike tribes. In the energetic languagej that are parallel to the one on which he is 
of one of their orators, it is a d'readful contla- caUed to act, and will thus possess himself of 
gration, which spreads misery and desolation' sure h.idmarks to guide him to his object, la 



10 



Harrison's wise Policy with the Indians. 



the present instance, there is no necessity for 
a recurrence to foreign or distant examples; 
the neiofhbouring states afford precisely what 
we seek — a people similar in manners, in 
habits, and in the state of information, raising 
their revenue from the same objects. Not- 
withstanding the embarrassments which have 
hitherto attended our financial operations, there 
is oneconsolatory circumstance which has been 
fully established : that a revenue equal to 
all our necessities can be raised; and that too 
without oppression or inconvenience to the 
people." 

In referring to the law regulating marriage 
licenses, Governor Harrison proceeds to say : 

" Connected in some measure with this sub- 
ject, is the law authorizing the general and 
circuit courts to grant divorces. The propriety 
and policy of a law of this kind have been 
strongly contested in many parts of the United 
States; and it is believed that the principle 
has been every where condemned, save in one 
or two States only. It cannot be denied that 
the success of one applicant for a divorce, has 
always the effect of producing others, and that 
the advantages which a few individuals may 
derive from the dissolution of this solemn con- 
tract, are too dearly purchased by its injurious 
effects upon the morals of the community. 
The scenes w-hich are frequently exhibited in 
trials of this kind, are shocking to humanity. 
The ties of consanguinity and nature are 
loosened ; the child is brought to give testi- 
mony against his parent; confidence and af- 
fection are destroyed ; family secrets dis- 
closed ; and humanity exhibited in its worst 
colours. In the time of the Roman republic, 
divorces might be obtained by a summary and 
easy process ; but so great was the abhorrence 
of them amongst that enlightened people, that 
in a period of five hundred years, but one per- 
son had been found to take advantage of the 
privilege which the law allowed. But when 
their manners became corrupt by luxury, di- 
vorces became so common that applications 
were frequently made to the college of augurs, 
to ascertain the father of a child born in law- 
ful wedlock. A few years ago, there were 
but two instances on record, in the State of 
Virginia, of applications for divorce. One only 
of these had been successful; and although 
that was acknowledged to be a case which had 
as strong claims to indulgence as any that 
could happen, it was nevertheless opposed by 
some of the most enlightened patriots of that 
State, upon the principle that it was better for 
an individual to suffer some inconvenience, 
than that an example should be established, 
60 injurious, as they supposed, to the morals 
of the coKimunity." 

In explaining his policy towards the In- 
dians, he says : 



ment is not far distant when every cnpable 
man will be called on to assume the character 
of a soldier. The situation of our affairs oa 
the Atlantic coast, as well as on this frontier, 
makes it necessary that there should be n& 
delay in preparing ourselves for the worst that 
may happen. A restless and dissatisfied dis- 
position has manifested itself amongst some 
of the neighbouring tribes, and a hw indivi- 
duals are believed to be decidedly hostile. It 
gives me pleasure, however, to state that I 
have, within a ievf days, received from two of 
the tribes, the most positive assurances of 
friendship, and their unalterable determination 
to submit themselves entirely to my direction. 
These assurances, though in my opinion sin- 
cere, ought not to be relied upon ; and the pre- 
parations for defence ought still to go on, until 
the real disposition of all the tribes is perfect- 
ly ascertained. Although the agency of a 
foreign power in producing the discontents 
among the Indians cannot he questioned, I am 
persuaded that the utmost endeavours to in- 
duce them to take up arms would be unavail- 
ing, if one only of the many persons who have 
committed murders on their people, could be 
brought to punishment. Whilst we rigorously 
exact of them the delivery of every murderer 
of a white man, the neglect on our part to 
punish similar offences committed on them, 
forms a strong and just ground of complaint, 
for which I can offer no excuse or palliation. 
A powerful nation rendering justice to a petty 
tribe of savages, is a sublime spectacle, worthy 
of a great republic, and worthy of a people 
who have shown themselves as valiant in war, 
as in peace moderate and forbearing." 



TECDMTHE AND THE PROPHET. / 

About this time our friendly relations 
with the Indians were broken in upon, and 
the plans our government had formed to 
civilize them, and ameliorate their condi- 
tion, were entirely destroyed by a new and 
very remarkable influence. 

Two twin brothers of the Sliawnee tribe, 
Teciimthe, the Crouching Panther, and 
01-li-wa-chi-ca, the Ojyen Door commonly 
known as the Prophet, commenced a series 
of artful and daring intrigues among the 
Indians on our northwestern frontier, which 
finally involved them in a war with our 
country, destined to result in the expulsion 
of many of these warlike tribes from all 
their old and favourite hunting-grounds. 

Tecumthe was a bold and skilful warrior, 
sagacious in council, and formidable in 
battle, — an active, daring, energetic man, 
but one who preferred tact and secret 
management to open violence. The 



'It is probable, gentlemen, that the mo- Prophet was a shrewd impostor ; cunning, 



Harrison's Interview with Tecumthe. 



11 



arlful and treacherous. lie was no warrior, 
but an accomplishpd and persuasive orator, 
who announced himself as a medicine man 
or magician, possessed of vast and miracu- 
lous powers, and as having been specially 
sent by the Great Spirit to reform the con- 
dition of the red people, and to restore them 
to their former prosperity. 

These crafty intriguers were leagued to- 
getlier by the lie of mutual interests and a 
common hatred to the whites ; and their 
object was to form a general combination 
of all the northwestern and southwestern 
tribes of Indians, for the purpose of pre- 
venting the whites from extending any new 
settlements west of those already existing; 
and with the vain hope, too, that by a 
simultaneous attack on the whole of our 
extensive, thinly inhabited, and ill-defended 
western frontier, they might force back the 
whites from the valley of the Mississippi, 
and regain a portion of their lost hunting- 
grounds. But the designs of these intriguing 
spirits were soon known to Governor Har- 
rison ; and, aware of his dangerous and 
critical position, his prudent forbearance 
and wise policy enabled him, for several 
years, to hold his savage neighbours in 
check. 

Harrison's treaty at fort wayne. 

In September, 1809, Governor Harrison 
held a council at Fort Wayne, and nego- 
tiated a treaty with the Miamies, Delawares, 
Polawalomies, and Kickapoos, by which 
he succeeded in purchasing from those tribes 
an extensive tract of country on both sides 
of the Wabash, and extending up that river 
more than sixty miles above Vincennes. 
The tribes who owned these lands were 
paid for them by certain annuities which 
they considered a satisfactory equivalent. 

Harrison's interview with tecumthe. 

Tecumthe was absent when this treaty 
was made, and the Prophet not feeling 
himself interested, had not opposed it; but 
on the return of Tecumthe, some months 
after, both he and his brother expressed 
great dissatisfaction, and even threatened 
lo put to death ail those chiefs who had 
signed the treaty. Hearing this, and 
anxious too to ascertain their intentions 
from themselves, if possible. Governor 
Harrison despatched messengers to invite 
ihera both to Vincennes, and lo assure 



them that any claims they might have to 
liiese lands were not affected by the treaty; 
but that if they would come to Vincennes 
and exhibit their pretensions, and they 
should be found to be valid, the lands 
would be given up or an ample compensa- 
tion made for them. Tecumthe came, 
without his brother — and though the go- 
vernor, having no confidence in his good 
faith, had requested him not to bring with 
him more than thirty warriors, he came 
with four hundred, completely armed. The 
governor held a council on the 12th of 
August, 1810, at which Tecumthe and 
forty of these warriors were present. The 
governor was attended by the judges of the 
supreme court, several officers of the army, 
Winnemack, a friendly chief, and a few 
unarmed citizens. A sergeant's guard of 
twelve men was likewise placed near him, 
but as the day was exceedingly sultry, and 
they were exposed to the sun, the governor, 
with his characteristic humanity, directed 
them to remove to a shaded spot at some 
distance. 

Tecumthe addressed this council with a 
speech, in which he openly avowed the 
designs of himself and his brother. He 
declared it to be their intention to form a 
coalition of all the red men, to prevent the 
whites from extending their settlements 
farther west — and to establish the principle 
that the Indian lands belonged in common 
to all the tribes, and could not be sold with- 
out their united consent. He again avowed 
their intention to put to death all the chiefs 
who had signod the treaty at Fort Wayne, 
yet, with singular inconsistency, he at the 
same time denied all intention to make war, 
and declared that all those who had given 
such inform.ation to the governor were liars. 
This was aimed particularly at Winnemack, 
from whom the governor had received a 
timely notice of the designs of Tecumthe 
and his brother. 

Governor Harrison replied to Tecumthe 
in a mild and conciliatory tone; explaining 
the treaty at Fort Wayne, and clearly prov- 
ing that all the chiefs whose tribes had any 
claims upon the lands ceded at this time to 
the United States, were present at the treaty 
and had voluntarily signed it — and that they 
had sold these lands for an annuity which 
they considered a sufficient compensation. 
The interpreter of the Shawnees explained 
the governor's speech to the warriors of 
that tribe, but when the interpreter to the 
Potawatomies was about to begin, Tecum- 



12 



Governor Harrison exposes Tecumthe. 



the interrupted liira in a rude and insulting 
manner, using the most vehement language 
and the most violent gesticulation, and 
loudly declaring that all the governor had 
said was false, and that he and the United 
Slates had cheated and imposed upon the 
Indians. As he uttered this, his warriors 
sprung to their feet and began to brandish 
their tomahawks and war-clubs, their eyes 
all fiercely turned upon the governor. Har- 
rison rose immediately and drew his sword. 
The friendly chief Winnemack cocked a 
pistol with which he was armed, and some 
of the officers in attendance drew their 
weapons and stood on the defensive. 
During this critical moment not a word 
was spoken, until the guard hastily ap- 
proached and were about to fire on the 
Indians, when the governor, with singular 
coolness and presence of mind restrained 
ihem. He then turned to Tecumthe and 
calmly but authoritatively told him tliat 
*' he was a bad man — that he would hold 
no further talk with him — and that he must 
now return to his camp, and take his de- 
parture from the settlements without delay." 
The council was immediately broken up, 
and Tecumthe and his warriors, awed by 
the coolness and intrepidity of the gover- 
nor, withdrew in silence. 

The next morning, Tecumthe, finding 
that he had to deal with a man of firmness 
and undaunted bravery, whom he could 
neither intimidate by his audacious violence 
nor disconcert by his cunning manoeuvres, 
solicited another interview with the gover- 
nor, and apologized for the improprieties 
he had committed at the council the day 
before. 

Still anxious to conciliate this haughty 
savage, the governor afterwards paid him 
a visit at his own camp, with no other at- 
tendant than the interpreter, Tecumthe 
received him with courtesy and much at- 
tention ; his uniform kindness and inflexi- 
ble firmness having won the respect of the 
rude warrior — but he still persisted in 
rigidly adhering to the policy he had 
avowed at the council table on the pre- 
ceding day. 

Meanwhile his brother was using every 
exertion to advance their mutual object. 
His reputation as a prophet with his cun- 
ning pretensions to supernatural powers, 
gave him a strong hold on the superstitions 
of his red brethren, and enabled him to at- 
tach several of the tribes warmly to his 
interests. Governor Harrison alludes to 



this in his message to the Legislature of 
Indiana, in the ensuing winter of 1810, 
from which the following is an extract: 

Harrison's address to the legislature. 

" Presenting as we do," said Governor Har-. 
risen, ''a very extended frontier to numerous 
and warlike tribes of the aborigines, the stale 
of our relations with them must always form 
an important and interesting feature in our 
local politics. It is with regret that 1 have to 
inform you, that the harmony and good under- 
standing which it is so much our interest to 
cultivate with these our neighbours, have, for 
some time past, experienced a considerable 
interruption, and that we have indeed been 
threatened with hostilities, by a combination 
formed under the auspices of a bold adven- 
turer, who pretended to act under the imme- 
diate inspiration of the Deity. His character 
as a prophet would not, however, have given 
him any very dangerous influence, if he had 
not been assisted by the intrigues and advice 
of foreign agents, and other disaffected persons, 
who have for years omitted no opportunity of 
counteracting the measures of the government 
with regard to the Indians, and filling their 
naturally jealous minds with suspicions of the 
justice and integrity of our views towards 
them." 

" The circumstance which was laid hold of 
to encourage disafTeclion, on a late occasion, 
was the treaty made by me at Fort Wayne in 
the autumn of the last year. Amongst the 
difficulties which were to be encountered, to 
obtain those extinguishments of title which 
have proved so beneficial to the treasury of 
the United States, and so necessary, as the 
means of increasing the population of the ter- 
ritory, the most formidable was that of ascer- 
taining the tribes which were to be admitted 
as parties to the treaties. The object was ac- 
cordingly discussed in a long correspondence 
between the qrovernment and myself, and the 
principles which were finally adopted, were 
made as liberal towards the Indians as a due 
regard to the interests of the United States 
would permit. Of the tribes which had formed 
the confederacy in the war which terminated 
by the peace of Greeneville, some were resi- 
dents upon the lands which were in the pos- 
session of their forefathers, at the time that 
the first settlements were made in America by 
white people, whilst others weie emigrants 
from distant parts of the country, and had no 
other claim to the tracts they occupied, than 
what a few years' residence, by the tacit con- 
sent of the real owners, could give. Upon 
common and general principles, the transfer of 
the title of the former description would have 
been sufficient to vest in the purchaser the 
legal right to lands so situated. But in all its 
transactions with the Indians, our government 



Governor Harrison's liberality. 



13 



has not been content with doing that which 
was just only. Its savage neighbours have, 
on all occasions, experienced its liberality and 
benevolence. Upon this principle, in several 
of the treaties which have been made, several 
tribes have been admitted to a participation of 
their benefits, who had no title to the land 
ceded, merely because they had been accus- 
tomed to hunt upon, and derive part of their 
support from them. For this reason, and to 
prevent the Miamies, who were the real owners 
of the land, from experiencing any ill effects 
from their resentment, the Delawares, Pota- 
watomies, and Kickapoos were made parties 
to the late treaty at Fort Wayne. No other 
tribe was admitted, because it never had been 
suggested that any other could plead even the 
title of use or occupancy of the lands, which 
at that time were conveyed to the United 
States. 

"It was not until eight months after the con- 
clusion of the treaty, and after his design of form- 
ing a hostile combination against the United 
States had been discovered and defeated, that 
the pretensions of the Prophet, with regard to 
the lands in question, were made known. A 
furious clamour was then raised by the foreign 
agents among us, and other disaffected per- 
sons, against the policy which had excluded 
from the treaty this great and influential cha- 
racter, as he is termed ; and the doing so, ex- 
pressly attributed to personal ill-will on the 
part of the negotiator. No such ill-will did in 
fact exist. I accuse myself, indeed, of an 
error, in the patronage and support which I 
afforded him upon his first arrival on the Wa- 
bash, before his hcrstiliiy to the United States 
had been developed ; but on no principle of 
propriety or policy could he have been made 
3 party to the treaty. The personage called 
the Prophet is not a chief of the tribe to which 
he belongs, but an outcast from it, rejected 
and hated by the real chiefs, the principal of 
whom was present at the treaty, and not only 
disclaimed on the part of his tribe any title to 
the lands ceded, but used his personal influ- 
ence with the chiefs of the other tribes to effect 
the cession. 

"As soon as I was informed that his dis- 
satisfaction at the treaty was assigned as the 
cause of the hostile attitude which the Pro- 
phet had assumed, I sent to inform him that 
whatever claims he might have to the lands 
which had been purchased for the United 
States, were not in the least affected by that 
purchase; that he might come forward and 
exhibit his pretensions, and if they were really 
found to be just or equitable, the lands would 
be restored, or an ample equivalent given for 
them. His brother was deputed, and sent to 
me for that purpose ; but far from being able 
to show any colour of claim, either for him- 
self or any of his followers, his objections to 
the treaty were confined to the assertion, that 
ail the lands upon the continent were the com- 



mon property of all the tribes, and that no sale 
of any part of it could be valid, without the 
consent of all. A proposition so extremely 
absurd, and which would forever prevent any 
further purchase of lands by the United Slates, 
could receive no countenance from any friend 
of his country. He had, however, the inso- 
lence to declare, that by the acknowledgment 
of that principle alone could the effects of his 
resentment be avoided." 

* * * * u I [^.^ve been thus particular, 
gentlemen, in giving you information upon 
the present state of affairs with the neighbour- 
ing Indians, that you may have them fully be- 
fore you, in case you should think proper to 
make them in any shape the subject of your 
deliberations." 



CALUMNY TRIUMPHANTLY REFUTED. 

In the course of this address, the whole 
of which we regret that tlie limited space 
allowed us will not permit us to quote, 
Governor Harrison alluded to some idle 
complaints and malicious calumnies which 
had been spread abroad by certain disaf- 
fected persons within the territory — the 
totally unfounded nature of which was soon 
made apparent in a court of justice. There 
are in every community, individuals who 
are incapable of appreciating or are unwill- 
ing to admit the existence of disinterested 
and patriotic motives of action— and who, 
if they are too dull or perverse to compre- 
hend the wise policy and strict justice of 
any public measure, are inclined by the 
whisperings of their own hearts to attribute 
that measure to the promptings of base or 
unworthy motives. It is not a matter of 
surprise, therefore, that some such were 
found in the territory over which Governor 
Harrison presided. Among these was one 
M'Intosh, who openly asserted that Go- 
vernor Harrison had cheated the Indians 
in the treaty at Fort Wayne, by which the 
United States had the year before obtained 
so large a cession of lands from the Mi- 
amies, Delawares, Potawatomies and Kicka- 
poos. As this calumny was industriously 
circulated, Governor Harrison thought it 
due both to his own character and to that 
of the General Government that the charge 
should be fully and judicially investigated, 
while the subject was still fresh and the 
testimony in relation to the treaty at Fort 
Wayne was still within reach. An action 
for slander was therefore brought against 
M'Intosh, in the Supreme Court of the ter- 
ritory, and every possible measure was 



14 



Harrison's March to the PropheVs Town. 



adopted to obtain a fair and an impartial 
decision. To insure lliis, two of the judges 
left the bench during the trial — one being 
a friend of the governor and the other of 
the defendant — leaving the case to be ad- 
judicated by the third judge, who had but 
recently arrived in the territory and was 
but slightly acquainted with either of the 
parties. Ail the facts connected with the 
negotiation of tiie treaty of Fort Wayne 
were critically inquired into, and the de- 
fendant was allowed every opportunity to 
examine all persons engaged in the Indian 
Department, or who were acquainted with 
the circumstances attendant upon the 
raaking of this treaty. But the more this 
subject was inquired into, the more clearly 
did it manifest the strict honour and in- 
tegrity of Governor Harrison ; until, at 
length, convinced of this, the counsel of 
M'Intosh abandoned all plea of justification, 
and asked only for a mitigation of damages. 
The jury returned a verdict of four thousand 
dollars against the defendant ; a heavy ver- 
dict in a new country, where money is 
always scarce, and damages given by juries 
in such cases are generally very small. A 
large amount of the defendant's property 
%vas sold the following year to satisfy this 
judgment, and was bought in by the agent 
of the governor, while he himself was ab- 
sent in command of the army. Two-thirds 
of this property Governor Harrison after- 
wards returned to M'Intosh, and the re- 



energetic measures within his limited re- 
sources, to place the territory in a posture 
of defence. At his own earnest request, 
and at the solicitation of tlie people, the 
President soon after directed him to march 
with an armed force towards the principal 
place of rendezvous of the hostile Indians, 
the Prophet's town, on the Wabash, near 
the mouth of the Tippecanoe — where this 
crafty impostor had gathered together a 
body of more than a thousand fierce war- 
riors, ready to obey his will. 

Governor Karrison immediately assem- 
bled five hundred of the militia and volun- 
teers of Indiana. These, with a regiment 
of United States infantry, consisting of 
three hundred and fifty men, commanded 
by Colonel Boyd, and a small body of 
volunteers from Kentucky, constituted his 
whole available force — amounting in all to 
scarcely nine hundred effective men. As 
soon as he had disciplined these troops, 
and trained both the regulars and militia in 
the Indian mode of warfare, he took up his 
line of march towards the Prophet's town. 

Harrison's march to the prophet's 

TOWN. 

He left Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, 
about sixty miles above Vincennes, on the 
28th of October, 1811. Profiting by his 
own early experience, and the remembered 
example of his old friend and commander, 



tmiinder he distributed among the orphanl General Wayne, his march through a jsin 



children of some of his gallant fellow-citi- 
zens who fell in battle during the last 
war! Such acts need no comment — while 
magnanimity, disinterestedness, and gene- 
rosity are prized ainong men, the tongue 
of praise even can scarcely do them justice. 

INDIAN HOSTILITIES — GOVERNOR HARRISON's 
MEASURES OF DEFENCE. 

In 1811, from petty aggressions, the 
Indians proceeded to more open violence, 
and acts of decided hostility. The war- 
whoop was again heard yelling within the 
limits of the territory, and every day brought 
fresh accounts of the perpetration of those 
ruthless deeds of depredation and murder, 
which always give the first intimation of a 
savage war. From motives of hun)anity 
as well as policj*, Governor Harrison had 
always soug!:t to avoid a war with the In- 
dians ; but when this result became una- 
voidable, he promptly adopted the most 



gularly wild country to Tippecanoe, was 
conducted with so much skill and prudence, 
that he avoided all danger of ambuscade or 
surprise from the savage foe. On the 6lh 
of November, the army arrived within five 
or six miles of the Prophet's town. Ac- 
cording to the instructions he had received 
from the President, Governor Harrison 
immediately sent in a flag of truce, to en- 
deavour to open an amicable negotiation 
with the hostile Indians. To this overture, 
the Prophet returned a pacific but deceitful 
reply — professing, all the while, the most 
amicable intentions, and agreeing to meet 
the governor the next day in council, with 
his chiefs, to settle definitely the terms of 
peace. But Harrison knew too well the 
treachery of his artful antagonist, to allow 
himself to be deceived by his specious 
professions, or lulled into any fancied se- 
curity. He carefully selected the most 
eligible and defensible position for his en- 
campment, and posted his troops in a hoi- 



The Victory of Tippecanoe. 



15 



low square, with his cavalry drawn up in 
rear of the front line. He then ordered 
his men to lie upon their arms all night, 
that they might be in constant readiness to 
repel any sudden attack; and he sur- 
rounded the entire camp with a chain of 
sentinels, placed at such a distance as to 
give timely notice of the approach of the 
enemy, yet not so remote as to prevent 
their retreat in case they should be over- 
powered by numbers. The officers were 
likewise ordered to sleep with their clothes 
and accoutrements on, and their arms by 
their sides ; and the governor himself was 
ready to mount his horse at a moment's 



warning. 



THE VICTORY OF TIPPECANOE. 

The night passed without any interrup- 
tion ; and the governor and his aids rose 
at a quarter before four o'clock, and were 
sitting in conversation about the fire. The 
moon had risen, but afforded little light, 
in consequence of being overshadowed by 
heavy clouds, from wiiich occasionally fell 
a drizzling rain. At this moment the at- 
tack commenced. The treacherous Indians 
had stealthily crept up near our sentries, 
with the intention of rushing upon them 
and killing them before they could give the 
alarm. But fortunately one of the sentries 
discovered an Indian creeping towards him 
through the grass, and fired at him. This 
was immediately followed by the Indian 
yell, and a furious charge upon the left 
flank. So sudden and fierce was this on- 
set, that the guard stationed in that quarter 
gave way, at first, to their savage assailants; 
but, notwithstanding the severe fire, they 
soon rallied, and maintained their ground 
with desperate valour. The camp-fires 
were immediately extinguished, as their 
light only served to expose our men to the 
deadly aim of the Indians. Upon the first 
alarm, the governor mounted his horse, and 
proceeded to the point of attack ; and find- 
ing the line much weakened there, he 
ordered two companies from the centre and 
rear line to march up to their support. 
About this time, Colonel Joseph Hamilton 
Daviess, of Kentucky, informed the gover- 
nor that the Indians, concealed behind 
some trees near the left of the front line, 
were severely annoying the troops in thai 
quarter, and requested permission to dis- 
lodge them. In attempting this hazardous 
exploit, he charged the Indians on fool, but 



unfortunately the flash of his pistol exposed 
him to the deadly aim of the savages, and 
he was shot down almost instantly, pierced 
with three balls, either of which would 
have proved fatal — and thus fell one of the 
most gallant and chivalric spirits, and one 
of the most daring and intrepid officers in 
the whole army. Colonel Isaac White, of 
Indiana, another brave officer, who served 
as a volunteer under Colonel Daviess, like- 
wise fell in this sanguinary charge. A 
heavy fire now commenced upon the right 
flank, upon a part of the rear line, and upon 
the entire front as well as upon the left 
flank. Finding that many of our officers 
were killed by the severe fire on the right 
flank, and that our men there were warmly 
pressed, the governor led another company 
to their aid, which enabled them to defend 
their position during the rest of the attack. 
While the governor was leading this com- 
pany into action, his gallant aid. Colonel 
Owen, of Kentucky, was killed at his side. 
The battle was now maintained in every 
direction with desperate valour. The In- 
dians advanced and retreated by a rattling 
noise made with deer-hoofs. They fought 
with great enthusiasm, and seemed deter- 
mined to conquer. Our men maintained 
the fight with even more than their accus- 
tomed bravery, and the governor was un- 
wearied in his active exertions. Amid all 
llie din of battle, the fierce shoutinsf of our 
troops, and the fiend-like yellings of the 
savages, his clear and manly voice was 
heard encouraging and supporting his men 
where they were most severely pressed, 
and cheering them on to victory. He re- 
peatedly, during the engagement, changed 
their position to meet the varying attacks 
of his desperate assailants, and in all these 
evolutions the troops were formed and led 
into action bv himself. 

When the day dawned, the left flank, 
the most assailable part of the encamp- 
ment, was reinforced by four companies 
drawn from the rear and centre; the right 
flank was strengthened by two companies; 
the dragoons were mounted, and, supported 
by them, a simultaneous charge was made 
upon the enemy on both flanks. And so 
vigorous and determined was this attack, 
that the enemy gave way on all sides — the 
Indians on the left flank were driven into 
a swamp impenetrable to cavalry, vi^hile 
those on the right were put to flight with 
great loss; and this severely contested vic- 
tory was at last gained by our oallanl troops. 



16 



President Madison's Opinion of Harrison. 



The Prophet look no active part in this 
battle, but during the whole of the contest, 
he remained secure on a neighbouring emi- 
nence, chanting a war-song. He had pro- 
mised his warriors that "the Great Spirit 
would turn the powder of the whites into 
ashes, and charm their bullets, so that tliey 
should drop harmless, and that the red men 
should have light, while their enemies were 
involved in uller darkness." Soon after 
the battle commenced, he was told that his 
warriors were falling in great numbers, but 
he bade them fight on, and they would soon 
see the fulfilment of his predictions. 

Tecumlhe was not present at this battle, 
being on a visit to the southern tribes, 
whom he was endeavouring to unite in his 
combination agrainst the United States. 

The battle of Tippecanoe was unques- 
tionably one of the most spirited and well- 
fought actions recorded in the annals of our 
Indian wars. The ntimbers and weapons 
on either side were nearly equal; and the 
Indians, contrary to their usual custom, 
fought hand to hand, and with the most 
desperate ferocity ; displaying a boldness 
and reckless daring, during the engagement, 
that can only be accounted for by their re- 
liance on the specious promises held nut to 
them by the Prophet. Every man in this 
bailie^ encountered his share of danger, but 
no man was in more personal peril than 
Governor Harrison himself — well known 
to many of the Indians, and the object of 
their peculiar attack, his fearless and un- 
shrinking exposure, makes it seem almost 
a miracle that he should have escaped un- 
wounded. In referring to the coolness and 
intrepidity of Governor Harrison, on this 
occasion, we cannot refrain from making 
the following extracts from a journal pub- 
lished in Keene, New Hampshire, by 
Adam Walker, a private soldier, who 
fought in this battle, and who could have 
had no interested motives for his publica- 
tion : " General Harrison," he says, " re- 
ceived a shot through the rim of his hat. 
In the heat of the action, his voice was fre- 
quently heard, and easily distinguished, 
giving his orders in the same calm, cool, 
and collected manner, with which we had 
been used to receive tliem on drill or pa- 
rade. The confidence of the troops in the 
General was unlimited." The same writer, 
in speaking of Harrison's kindness to the 
soldiers, and his influence over them, re- 
marks : " He appeared not disposed to de- 
tain any man against his inclination ; being 



endowed by nature with a heart as humane 
as brave, in his frequent addresses to the 
militia, his eloquence was formed to per- 
suade ; appeals were made to reason as 
well as feeling, and never were they made 
in vain." 

GOVERNOR Harrison's magnanimity. 

An incident that occurred at this time 13 
worth recording. The night before the 
battle, a negro man belonging to the camp, 
who had been missing, was arrested near 
the Governor's marquee, under very sus- 
picious circumstances. He was tried by 
a court-martial for desertion to the enemy, 
and for an attempt to assassinate the Gover- 
nor. Sufficient evidence was found to con- 
vict him, and he was sentenced to death ; 
yet such were the humane feelings of 
Harrison, that he could not induce himself 
to sififn the order for his execution. As the 
criminal attempt had been made against his 
own life, he felt himself privileged to exer- 
cise his benevolence towards the ofl"ender, 
and the misguided wretch was sufTered to 
escape the just punishment of his crime. 
It would have been more in accordance 
with the principles of strict justice, to have 
allowed tlie law to take its own course in 
this instance — but the circumstances of the 
case were very peculiar, and Governor 
Harrison's conduct evinced a magnanimity 
and humanity of heart rarely equalled. 

The importance of the victory at Tippe- 
canoe cannot be too highly estinfated. It 
quelled the haughty spirit of the discon- 
tented and hostile Indians, and defeated the 
plan, which they had almost matured, of 
attacking and destroying our scattered bor- 
der settlements in detail. Had we lost this 
battle, our army must have been annihi- 
lated — the whole extent of our defenceless 
frontier would have been left to the mercy 
of sanguinary and unsparing savages, and 
the consequent loss of life and destruction 
of property would have been almost incal- 
culable. 

President Madison, in his message to 
Congress, dated December 18th, 1812, 
makes the following honourable mention of 
this battle : " While it is deeply to be la- 
mented," says the President, " that so 
many valuable lives have been lost in the 
action which took place on the 9th ult., 
Congress will see, with satisfaction, the 
dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously 
displayed by every description of troops 



Governor Harrison chosen to command the Kcntuchy troops. 17 



engaged, as well as the collected firmness 1 
which dislinguislied their commander, on 
an occasion requiring the utmost exertion 
of valour and discipline." 

The. Legislature of Kentncky, at their 
ensuing session, on llie motion of John J. 
Crittenden, now a distinguished member 
of the United States Senate, expressed 
their high sense of Governor Harrison's 
good conduct on this occasion, by the fol- 
lowing complimentary resolution: 

"Resolved, That in the late campaign 
against the Indians, on the Wabash, Gov- 
ernor W. II. Harrison has, in the opinion 
of this legislature, behaved like a hero, a 
patriot, and a general; and that for his 
cool, deliberate, skilful, and gallant con- 
duct, in the late battle of Tippecanoe, he 
deserves the warmest thanks of the nation." 

This high encomium came from those 
whose friends and neighbours had partici- 
pated in the late campaign, and who were 
consequently familiar with all its details, 
and with the merits of the coinniander-in- 
chief. 

WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

War was declared with Great Britain in 
June, 1812. Prior to this event, British 
agents had, for a long time, been tampering 
with the discontented Indians within our 
terrilorj-, and had bribed them with pre- 
sents, and furnished them with firearms, to 
induce them to renew their hostilities 
against our country. The crafty and daring 
'J'ecumthe, loo, was once more in the field. 
Urged on by his savage eloquence, by their 
own natural love for war and plunder, and 
by the atrocious intrigues of foreign agents, 
the northwestern Indians again raised the 
war-whoop, and commenced their barba- 
rous system of warfare. Their cruel mur- 
ders and depredations became of frequentf 
occurrence, and the waitings of bereaved 
mothers and orphans, and the bitter com- 
plaints of those who had escaped from the 
conflagration of their plundered homes, 
excited the commiseration of our hardy 
borderers, and roused a general feeling of 
indignation. Such was the state of excite- 
ment in our frontier settlements in the 
summer of 1812. 

Immediately after the declaration of war, 
our western governors promptly adopted 
every measure in their power, for the de- 
fence of their respective States and Terri- 
tories. But conscious of the great abilities 



and experience of Harrison, they placed 
the utmost reliance on his coun^iols, and 
lo>)ked to him as the leader, under whom 
they might hope for success against the 
common enemy. lie aided Governor Ed- 
wards in placing the frontier of Illinois in 
a posture of defence, and soon after, was 
invited by Governor Scott of Kentucky, a 
distinguished revolutionary officer, to a con- 
ference in relation to the Kentucky troops, 
which had been raised for the defence of 
the frontier. He accepted this invitation, 
and met Governor Scott at Frankfort; 
where he was received with the acclama- 
tions of the people, and with the highest 
civil and military honours. These public 
marks of the high estimation in which 
Harrison was held by the people, were 
shortly after followed by proofs still more 
flattering of their confidence in his patri- 
otism. Ills abilities, and his military skill. 

Governor Scott had levied an armed 
force of more than five thousand miliMa 
and volunteers, commanded by some of 
the ablest men and most experienced offi- 
cers in the Stale. Two thousand of these 
troops were ordered for immediate service; 
and they had no sooner learned that they 
were destined to march to the aid of their 
fellow-countrymen on the frontier, than 
they at once unanimously expressed the 
most earnest desire to be placed under the 
command of Governor Harrison. This 
feeling was responded to by the wishes of 
the whole mass of the people throughout 
the Slate. The laws of Kentucky, how- 
ever, would not permit any other ihan a 
citizen, to hold a command in the State 
mililia. In this dilemma. Governor Scott 
consulted with the venerable Shelby, (ihe 
governor elect), the Hon. Henry Clay, and 
other distinguished citizens of the stale, 
and by their unanimous advice he gave 
Harrison a brevet commission of major- 
general in the Kentucky mililia, with ex- 
press authority to lake command of the 
gallant troops about to march to the fron- 
tier. This was a bold and unprecedented 
measure, but one that gave unbounded 
satisfaction to both soldiers and citizens, 
and one fully warranted by the peculiar 
exigencies of the case. These facts speak 
volumes in favour of the remarkable popu- 
larity and high military reputation which 
Governor Harrison enjoyed in a population 
of brave and chivalric people, boasting ati 
unusual proportion of highly gifted and 
distinguished men» 



18 Gov. Harrison appointed commander-in-chief of N. W. ^^rmy. 



About this time, the cowardice and im-Iferson, had been in constant correspon- 



dence with him in relation to tlie territo- 
rial affairs of Indiana, and had thus enjoy- 
ed an ample opportunity of forming a fair 
estimate of his abilities and qualificnlions. 

The duties that devolved on General 
Harrison, in his new station, were arduous 
beyond description. The troops uniier his 
command, though brave, were either vo- 
lunteers for a limited period of time, or in- 
experienced and undisciplined recruits ; 
and the army was badly equipped, and 
nearly destitute of baggage and military 
stores. With these inadequate meai\s, and 
under these unfavourable circumstances, he 
was required to defend an immense extent 
of frontier, stretching along the shores of 
the great northern lakes, whose numerous 
harbours and rivers were easy of access to 
the enemy. In addition to this, (he roads 
leading to those points which most re- 
quired defence, were nearly impassable, 
and lay, for hundreds of miles, through a 
wilderness swarming widi lioslile liidians, 
and through gloomy and dangerous swamps, 
where the troops, though Hide encumbered 
widi baggage, could advance but slowly, 
and with great labour. Hut under all these 
difficulties, the spirits of the soldiers were 
sustained by the presence and example of 



becility of General Hull tamely surren- 
dered to the British the important post of 
Detroit, with the gallant force which com- 
posed its garrison. 'J'his event spread con- 
sternation far and wide through the west- 
ern country, and greatly increased the 
difficulty and arduous nature of Governor 
Harrison's duties. He immediately, how- 
ever, organized the brave troops under his 
command, and commenced a course of 
rigid discipline and military training; with 
the confident hope of retrieving the disasters 
consequent upon the cowardly surrender 
of Detroit. 

HARRISON IS APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN- 
CHIEF OF THE NORTHWESTERN ARMY. 

As it is our intention merely to glance 
at the military achievements of General 
Harrison, we shall pass rapidly over this 
brilliant portion of his career. He was 
appointed brigadier-general of the army of 
the United Stales, and soon after, in com- 
pliance with the solicitation of the volun- 
teer troops and the almost unanimous wishes 
of the western people, he was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the northwestern army. 

The powers conferred on Harrison by 
this last appointment were of great extent,! their favourite commander, who animated 
and he was left to exercise them according] them in their fatigues, and cheerfully en- 
to his own unrestricted judgment. In ihe|dured the same hardsfiips and privations 
despatch containing tliis appoiiitment, dated which they encountered. 
September 17ih, 1812, the Secretary of The publishjed accounts of our recent 
War says: — " You will command such: war with the Seminoles in Florida, the dis- 
means as mav be practicable' — exercise your] astrous details *of which have been made 
own discretion, and act in all cases accord-' but too familiar to us, will convey to our 
ing to your own judgment"' — thus confer- readers some idea of the peculiar dangers 
ring upon him extraordinary and almosti and difficulties of this campaign, and of the 
unlimited powers. We refer to this, mere- skill and fortitude required to overcome 
ly that we may here notice the renjarkable; them. In either case, we were opposed by 
fact, that, though vested with unusual pow- the same savage foe, and the country was 



ers. General Harrison was never known, 
during the whole of his command, to ex- 
ercise his authority in an unjust or oppres- 
sive manner. His measures were ener- 
getic, but always qualified by his charac- 
teristic moderation and humanity, and by a 



almost inaccessible from the same causes 
— its unhealthiness at that season of the 
year and its extensive and treacherous 
swamps, the passes through which were 
known only to the lioslile Indians by whom 
they Avere occupied — with perhaps, in the 



due regard for the feelings of every soldier two cases, but this difference only, that the 
in his camp. northern Indians are well known to be 

This appointment, it should be remem- much fiercer and more formidable warriors 
bered too, was not obtained by General than their southern brethren, and that, du 
Harrison by any party or personal infln- ring the whole of this campaign, they were 



ence, but was conferred upon him in com- 
pliance with the almost unanimous wishes 
of the western people ; and by a President 
who, when Secretary of Stale under Jef- 



kept constantly supplied, by the British, 

with more effective arms and ammunition. 

Yet all these difficulties and obstacles 

gave way to the activity and enterprise of 



Victory of the Thames. 



19 



General Harrison. During the ensuing 
campaign, his vigilance and intrepidity, 
wiih tlie bravery of l;is soldiers, enabled 
him to keep a far superior force in check, 
and to protect the wide extent of our ex- 
posed frontier. Otir forts were ably de- 
fended, and our troops gallandy repelled 
every attack of the enemy, except in some 
few instances, where they were assailed 
by overwhelming numbers. 

As General Harrison increased his strength, 
he began to act on the offensive ; and after 
forcing the enemy to abandon our territory, 
lie commenced making preparations to 
carry the war into their own country. 

Commodore Perry had been instructed 
to co-operate with General Harrison, with 
the fleet under his command, and by a 
happy coincidence, that gallant hero gained 
fiis glorious victory on Lake Erie, and cap- 
tured the entire squadron of the enemy, 
just about the time when General Harrison 
had matured his plans for the invasion of 
Canada. 

INVASION OF CANADA. 

On the 27th of September, 1813, our 
troops embarked at Sandusky Bay, and 
crossing lo llie Canada shore, took posses- 
sion of Maiden, which stronghold Proctor, 
the British general, had abamloned on their 
approach. 

Our army advanced rapidly in pursuit of 
the enemy, and overtook them on the 5th 
of October, near the Moravian town, on the 
river Thames, a place which is destined to 
be remembered as the battle ground of one 
of the most remarkable and decisive actions 
fought during the war. 

VICTORY OF THE THAMES. 

General Proctor, having had his clioice 
of ground, occupied a strong position, 
well selected lo resist the progress of our 
army. It was flanked on the left by the 
river Thames, and supported by artillery, 
find on the right, by two extensive swamps, 
running nearly parallel to the river. The 
British regtdars were formed in open order, 
in two extended lines. The Indians were 
commanded by Tecumthe in person. Their 
left flank was posted on the isthmus between 
the two swamps, and their riglit extended 
down the principal marsh. 

General Harrison drew up one division 
of his infantry in a double line reaching 
from the river to the swamp, opposite 



Proctor's troops, and tlie other division at 
right angles to the first, with its front ex- 
tending along the swamp, with the view of 
preventing the Indians from turning his 
left flank, and attacking him in the rear, 
Johnson's mounted regiment was placed in 
front of the infantry. 

The American army advanced in order 
of battle, and when in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of the enemy, the reconnoitering 
parlies brought in intelligence of the dis- 
positions Proctor had made. Harrison, 
witli the rapid decision of an able general, 
saw at once the egregious error of his op- 
ponent, and instantly took advantage of it. 
Aware that troops formed in open order 
could not resist a vigorous charge of caval- 
ry, he immediately ordered Colonel John- 
son to form his regiment of mounted men, 
and dash through the enemy's line in close 
column. The charge was rapidly made, 
and with tlie most biilliant success. The 
extended and weakened line of the enemy 
could off'er but a feeble resistance lo the 
charge of these gallant troops, who dashed 
through their ranks with overwhelming im- 
petuosity, and formed and attacked them in 
the rear. Panic-struck by this bold and 
unexpected manoeuvre, and at being assailed 
both in front and rear, the British threw 
down their arms in dismay, and the whole 
army was captured, with the exception of 
a few who escaped by an early flight with 
Proctor. The Indians attacked our troops 
on the left, and fought with great fierceness 
and daring, until their renowned chief Te- 
cumthe was slain, when they fled precipi- 
tately from the contest, after sutrering a 
severe loss. 

This decisive and important battle was 
thus fought and won, in a space of time 
almost incredibly short, and with a very 
trifling loss only on our side. All the bag- 
gage of the enemy, and their valuable mili- 
tary stores, together with the oflicial papers 
of Proctor fell into our hands ; and several 
pieces of brass cannon, which had been 
taken from the British in our revoli;lionary 
victories at Saratoga and Yorklown, but 
which Hull had shamefully surreiidcreu at 
Detroit, were again captured from our an- 
cient foe. 

The united force of the British regulars 
and Indians engaged in this battle, amount- 
ed to more than 2800 ; the number of our 
troops was less than 2500, and these were 
principally militia and volunteers. Tho 
venerable Governor Shelby commanded the 



20 



Eesignation of General Harrison. 



Kentucky volunteers in this bntilc, sn<\\ scalping knife of the ruthless savage of 
Creneral Cass, oiir present minister iothe wilderness, and fom the slill more 
France, nnd the heroic Perry, acted as ] sf/yf/g-e Proctor, rest on Harrison and 
vohinteer aids to General Harrison. This his gal/ant army.'' But ilie feelings that 
briliianl victory, following »ip the capture! prompted these frratefiil expressions were 
of their fleet on Lake Erie by the gallanljnot confined to those Slates in the more 
Perry, entirely destroyed the force of the' immediate neighbourhood of llie seat of 
enemy in Upper Canada, and put an end war, but were universal throughout the 
to the war on our norti)western frontier. countr}\ 

Upon tliis, as well as former expeditions,; Having entirely defeated the enemy in 
General Harrison adopted a rule, on all oc-; Upper Canada, General Harrison advanced 
casions, to favour himself in nothing, butjwitli a part of his army to the Niagara 



share equally with the common soldiers 
the fatigues and hardships of the campaign. 



frontier, and thence to Sackett's Harbour, 
where he left the troops and proceeded to 



A small valise contained all his baggage,; the seat of government. On his way 
except his bedding, which consisted of a' thither, he passed through New York and 
single blanket only, fastened over his sad-' Philadelphia ; in which cities he was re- 
dle ; and even tliis he gave to Colonel | ceived, by the whole population, with the 
Evans, a British officer, who was wounded most flattering marks of public honour and 
and taken prisoner in this battle. Thirty- 1 distinction. Afier the necessary delay of 
five British officers, prisoners of vvar,|a few days at Washington, General Har- 
supped with General Harrison, on ihe| rison proceeded to Ohio, where important 
night after the battle, and all the fare he: duties required his presence, 
had it in his power to offer them was fresh 
beef, jilainly roasted before a camp-fire,] 

without either bread or salt. This had ^ general Harrison resigns his commission 
been the food of the army during the cxpe-: in the army. 

dition, and the rations of the General werej 

always precisely iliose of the soldiers. On; In the plan for the ensuing campaign, to 
every occasion, indeed, he made it a point, the surprise and regret of the public, Gene- 
to set an example of fortitude and patience ral Harrison was designated for a service 
to his men, and to share with them every far inferior to that which he had a right U> 
hardship, difficulty, and danger. Whether expect. Regardless of the memorable vic- 
encamped or marching, the whole army! lories which ihis gallant and experienced 
was regularly under arms at daybreak; and! officer had won, and unmindful of the va- 
liowever severe the weather, he never rious and important services which he had 



failed to be present, and indeed was gene- 
rally the first officer on horseback in the 
whole army. 

On receiving the glorious news of the 
victory of the Thames, the thanks of Con- 
gress were expressed to General Harrison 



rendered to his country, the Secretary of 
War, the notorious John Armstrong, saw 
fit to assign to him the command of a dis- 
trict where he would be compelled to re- 
main inactive, while others were appointed 
to those more arduous duties which he 



in the warmest manner. Among many! had heretofore fulfilled with so much ho- 
others, whose grateful feelings found utter- nour to himself, and to the nation. As if 
ance on this occasion, the Hon. Langdon still unsatisfied with this egregious insult 
Cheves observed, on the floor of Congress, which he had ofl'ered to General Harrison, 
ihai — " The victory of Harrison was such the Secretary of War, on the 25th of April, 
as would have secured to a Roman general | 1814, appointed a subordinate officer to a 
in the best days of the Republic, the ho-; separate command within his district, and 
nours of a triumph."— A sentiment which: notified him to that effect. On the receipt 
was fully responded to in the complimen-, of this notification. General Harrison in- 
tary notices which he received from every istantly sent in his resignation to the Secre- 
partof the Union. Simon Snyder, who, tary of War, and at the same time addressed 
was then Governor of Pennsylvania, and, a letter on the subject to President Madi- 
the idol of the democracy of that State, son, couched in such simple yet manly 
said in his message to the Legislature, on language, and expressive of such noble 
Jhis occasion, "7'AeWc.9sing-so////owsa?i(/?|sentiments, that we cannot refrain from 
of women and children rescued from the quoting it. 



General HarrisoiVs reasons for resigning. 



21 



HARRISON S LETTER TO PRESIDENT 
MADISON. 

'•1 have this d;iy," said General Harrison, 
"forvvardeti to the Secretary of War my re- 
sin^natioii of the commission I hold in the 
army. 

"This measure has not been determined on 
without a reference to all the reasons which 
should influence a citizen who is sincerely 
attached to the honour and interests of his 
country, who believes tliat the war in which 
we are engaged is just and necessary; and 
that the crisis requires the sacrifice of every 
private consideration, which could stand in 
opposition to the public good. But after giv- 
ing- this subject a most mature consideration, 
I am perfectly convinced that my retiring 
from the army is as compatible with the 
claims of patriotism, as it is wiih those of 
my family, and a proper regard for my own 
feelings aiid honour. 

'* I have no other motive for writing this 
letter, than to assure you, that my resignation 
was not produced by any diminution of the 
interest which I have always taken in the 
success of your administration, or of respect 
and attachment for your person. The for- 
mer can only take place when I forget the 
republican principles in which I have been 
educated, and the latter, when I shall cease 
to regard those feelings which must actuate 
every honest man, who is conscious of favours 
that it is out of his power to repay." 

As soon as Governor Shelby heard of 
the resignation of General Harrison, he 
lost no time in addressing the President in 
his usual forcible terms, to prevent its be- 
ing accepted; but, unfortunately for the 
public interests, the President was then on 
a visit to Virginia, to which place the letters 
from General Harrison and Governor Shelby 
were forwarded, and that of the latter was 
not received until after Secretary Arm- 
strong, without the previous consent of the 
President, had assumed to himself the higli 
prerogative of accepting the resignation. 
The President expressed his deep regret 
that the letter of Governor Shelby had not 
been received earlier, as in that case the 
valuable services of General Harrison would 
have been preserved to the nation in the 
ensuing campaign. 

GENERAL HARRISOn's MOTIVES FOR 
RESIGNING. 

In this resignation, General Harrison \ 
displayed the true patriotism and disinte-i 
restedness, which have always marked his! 
conducl. He would cheerfully have de- j 
voted his services to his country, even in. 



an appointment inferior to thai which 
should have been assigned to him ; but he 
was loo high-principled to retain his rank, 
by yielding assent to a measure, wliich he 
considered to be subversive of military 
order and discipline ; and though his own 
fortune had been shattered by the neglect 
of his private alTairs, for the benefit of the 
public, and it would therefore have been 
exceedingly convenient to have retaineil 
the rank and pay of a major general ; yet 
he scorned to receive the emoluments of 
his office, when he was no longer per- 
mitted to perform its duties actively and 
honourably. 

It would be difficult at this period to 
trace out tlie true motives that induced the 
Secretary of War to the unjustifiable course 
he pursued in this affair. But some know- 
ledge of those events of the war in whieh 
he bore a part, with a little insight into 
human nature, would suggest that the lead- 
ing causes which prompted him, were the 
envy and jealousy, which a narrow-minded 
man would naturally feel, on contrasting 
his own feeble efforts, and abortive at- 
tempts, with the consummate skill, the 
brilliant victories, and tlie almost uniform 
successes of another. That he had acted 
in an arbitrary and unwarrantable manner, 
was afterwards clearly proved. And in the 
investigation which took place in Congress 
in the winter of 1816-17, it became so 
evident that General Harrison had been 
treated with great injustice by the war 
department, that a resolution, giving him a 
gold medal and the thanks of Congress, 
was passed, with but one dissenting voice 
in both houses of Congress. 

GENERAL HARRISOn's MILITARY SERVICES. 

The leading events in the campaign of 
1812-13, — the gallant defence of Fort 
Meigs, and the decisive victory of the 
Thames, are lasting memorials of General 
Harrison's military genius. Yet, for those 
isolated actions, he deserves far less praise 
than for the skilful operations and the 
Fabian policy, which led to these and other 
successes. The prudent care and indefati- 
gable exertions, by which he provided for 
his army in a wild and almost impassable 
country — the promptness and unwearied 
activity, with which he met and defeated 
the schemes of his antagonists — and the 
admirable bkill, with which he held in 
check an enemy far superior in numbers, 



22 



Gov. Harrison elected a Representative to Congress. 



and with a small force [)rotecled an ex- reports; ani], in compliance with his re- 
tended line of frontier, antl guarded the quest, a committee of seven was appointed 
lives and properly of thousands of his j for that purpose. This committee, after a 
fellow-citizens, betokened a genius of the lliiorough and minute examination of every 
highest order, widi a vigorous mind con-|thing relating to the subject, wnan?wiows/_(/ 
stantly on the alert. 



GENERAL HARRISON IS APPOINTED COMMIS- 
SIONER TO TREAT WITH THE INDIANS. 

Having resigned his commission in the 
army, General Harrison retired to his farm 
at North Bend, fifteen miles below Cin- 
cinnati. 

Soon after his resignation, in the sum- 
mer of 1814, President Madison evinced 
an unabated confidence in his abilities and 
integrity by appointing him to treat with 
the Indians, in conjunction with his old 
companions in arms. Governor Shelby and 
General Cass. In the following year, he 
was placed at the head of another com- 
mission, appointed to treat with the north- 
w-estern tribes. The honourable and advan- 
tageous treaties made in both these cases, 
afforded new instances of the unfailing 
success, that has always attended General 
Harrison's negotiations with t!ie Indians. 

In 181G, he was elected, by a large 
majority, a member of the House of Re- 
])resentaiives in Congress, from Ohio. 

A short time prior to this election, cer- 
tain malicious and defamatory reports had 
been widely circulated against General 
Harrison. His brilliant career, his re- 
markable popularity, and his almost in- 
variable success had naturally excited the 
envy and jealousy of many of those with 
whom he had necessarily associated, and 
whose ignorance and incompetency had 
been rendered more conspicuous in con- 
trast with the singii^^fr skill and ability 
evinced by him. In addition to this, he 
had incurred the bitter enmiiy of certain 
army-contractors, whose fraudulent designs 
had been delected and foiled by his care- 
ful vigilance. Disappointed and moriified 
by the disgrace of itjis detection and expo- 
sure, these persons had endeavoured to 
avenge themselves by spreading abroad 
reports that General Harrison, while in 
command of the army, had been partial, 
unjust, and otherwise improper in h.is con- 
duct, in relation to the commissariat de- 
partment. Conscious of his integrity. 
General Harrison, soon after he had taken 
liis seat in the House, demanded an inves- 
tigation by Congress of these calumnious 



reported through their chairman Richard 
M. Johnson, (now Vice-President of the 
United States,) that the charged against 
General Harrison were false and nn- 
foiinded, — that he " slood above suspi- 
cion,^' and " that he was, in his measures, 
governed solely by a proper zeal and de- 
votion to the public interest.'" 

Soon after General Harrison took his 
seat in Congress, he was made chairman 
of the Military (Committee. Early in the 
session he offered the loUowing resolution, 
which was aoreed to without a division : 

"Resolved, that the military comniittee be 
instructed to inquire into the expediency of 
providing by law for the relief of such of the 
officers and soldiers, who, having faithfully 
served in the armies of the United States, are 
now in distressed circumstances, and who, 
not having received wounds or disabilities, 
wliilst in actual service, are excluded from 
the benefits of the pension laws, and that the 
said committee report by bill or otherwise." 

On the 30lh of January, he moved that 
the military committee be instructed to 
inquire into the expediency of granting a 
bounty of one hundred and sixty acres of 
land to all non-commissioned officers and 
soldiers of the army, who, having been 
enlisted previous to the 24th of December, 
1811, are not entitled to said bounty, but 
who, having served faithfully through said 
war, have obtained an honourable dis- 
charge. 

These resolutions laid the foundation for 
those measures " which encircle the fame of 
this republic with a glory the ancient re- 
publics could not boast of, by exhibiting to 
the world the most beautiful example on 
record, of a nation's gratitude." 

During the session of 1817-18, a bill 
was before the house to increase the com- 
pensation of members of Congress from 
six to nine dollars per day; and on motion 
to strike out " nine" and insert " six" 
dollars as the daily pay, General Harrison 
said that 

"In explaining what would otherwise ap- 
pear an inconsistency in the vote lie was 
about to give, lie was aware that in order to 
preserve in Congress talents of a proper grade, 
and to enable men of iTioderaie properly to 
come to Congress without a loss, a higher 
conipensatioa was necessary than had hereto- 



Harrison'' s Justice to the Solclie?'s of the Revolution. 



23 



fore been allowed to members of Congress, and beloved and respected by the officers for 
But," said lie, " holding as we do, the key of the goodness of his iicart, and the great 
the treasury, we ought not to do ourselves qualities of his mind. 

even justice, before we do it to others, wJiose\ "Contributing greatly, by his exertions, to 
claims are stronger, and of longer standing. \he establishment of the independence of 
Whenever justice shall be done to the America, he might have remained, and shared 
SUFFERERS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, j the blossings it dispensed, under the protection 
AND NOT TILL THEN, I SHALL BE PREPARED TO of achicf vvho loved and houourcd him, and in 



DO JUSTICE TO OURSELVES. 

On the 2J of January, 1818, General 
Harrison introduced the following resolu- 
tion, and supported it by a most touching 
and eloquent appeal to the house. 

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed 
jointly with such committee as may be ap 



the bosom of a grateful and affectionate people. 
" Kosciusko had, however, other views. It 
is not known that, until the period I am 
speaking of, he had formed any distinct idea 
of what could, or indeed what ought, to be done 
for his own country. But in the revolutionary 
war, he drank deeply of the principles which 
produced it. In his conversations with the 



pointed by the Senate, to consider and report intelligent men of our country, he acquired 
what measures it maybe proper to adopt, to new views of the science of government 
manifest the public respect for the memory of and the rights of man, he had seen too 
General Thaddeus Kosciusko, formerly an 'that to be tree it was only necessary that a 
officer in the service of the United States, and nation should will it, and to be happy it 
the uniform and distinguished friend of liberty was only necessary that a nation should be 
and the rights of man. free. And was it not i)ossible to procure 

"The public papers have announced an event these blessings for Poland ? For Poland, the 
which is well calculated to excite the sym- country of his birth, which had a claim to all 
pathy of every American bosom. Kosciusko, his efforts, to all his services 1 That unhappy 
the martyr of liberty, is no more! We are, nation groaned under a complication of evils 
informed that he died at Soleure, in France, ' which has scarcely a parallel in history, 
some time in October last. The mass of the people were the abject slaves 

"In tracing the events of this great man's of the nobles — the nobles, torn into factions, 
life, we find in him that consistency of con- were alternately the instruments and the vic- 
duct which is the more to be admired as it is^tims of their powerful and ambitious neigh- 
so rarely to be met with. He was not at one hours. By intrigue, corruption and force, 
time the friend of mankind, and at another the some of its fairest provinces had been sepa- 
instrument of their oppression, but he pre-!rated from the republic, and the people, like 
served throughout his whole career those noble! beasts, transferred to foreign despots, who 
principles which distinguished him in its | were again watching for a favourable moment 
commencement — which ii.fluenced him at an ^ for a second dismemberment. To regenerate 
early period of his life to leave his country and a people thus debased— to obtain for a^country 
his friends, and in another hemisphere to fight thus circumstanced, the blessings of liberty 



for the rights of humanity. 

" Kosciusko was born and educated in Poland, 
of a noble and distinguished family — a coun- 
try where the distinctions in society are per- 
haps carried to greater lengths than in any 



and independence, was a work of as much 
difficulty as danger. But to a mind like 
Kosciusko's, the difficulty and danger of an 
enterprise served as stimulants to undertake it. 
"The annals of these times give us no de- 



other. His Creator had, however, endowed tailed account of the progress of Kosciusko in 
him with a soul capable of rising above thej accomplishing his great work, from the period 
narrow prejudices of a caste, and of breaking of his return from America to the adoption of 



the shackles which a vicious education had 
imposed on his mind. 

" When very young, he was informed, by the 



pti 
the new constitution of Poland, in 1791. 
This interval, however, of apparent inaction, 
- . _ ., was most usefully employed to illumine the 

voiceof Fame, that the standard of liberty had mental darkness which enveloped his coun- 
been erected in America; that an insulted and trymen. To stimulate the ignorant and 
oppressed people had determined to be free, | bigoted peasantry with the hope of future 
or perish in the attempt. His ardent and ' emancipation— to teach a proud but gallant 
generous mind caught with enthusiasm thej nobility that true glory is only to be found in 
holy flame, and from that moment he became the paths of duty and patriotism— interests the 
the devoted soldier of liberty. |most opposed, prejudices the most stubborn, 

"His rank in the American army afforded , and habits the most inveterate, were recon- 
him no opportunity to distinguish himself. | ciled, dissipated and broken, by the ascen- 
But he was remarked throughout his service,; dancy of his virtues and example. The sitorm 
for all the qualities which adorn the human; which he had foreseen, and for which he had 
character. His heroic conduct in the field, been preparing, at length burst upon Poland, 
could only be equalled by his moderation and A feeble and unpopular government bent 
affability in the walks of private life. He before its fury, and submitted itself to the 
was idolized by the soldiers for his bravery,' Russian yoke of the invader. But the natioa 



24 



Harrison's tribute to Kosciusko. 



disdained to follow its example; in their 
extremity every eye was turned on the hero 
who had already 
sagfe who had 



fought their battles — the 
enliirhtened thenj, and liie 



"' Hope for a season bade the world farewell. 
And freedona shriek'd when Kosciusko fell.' 

" He fell covered with wounds, but still sur- 



patriot who had set the example of personal ) vived. A Cossack would have pierced his 
gacrifices to accomplish the emancipation of breast, when an officer interposed. 'SufTer 



the people 

" Kosciusko was unanimously appointed jre- 
neralissimo of Poland, with unlimited powers, 
until the enemy should be driven from the 



him to execute his purpose,' said the bleeding 
hero. 'I am the devoted soldier of my country, 
and will not survive its liberties.' The name 
of Kosciusko struck to the heart of the Tartar, 



country. On his virtue the nation reposedjlike that of Marius upon the Cimbrian vvar- 
with the utmost confidence; and it is somejrior. The uplifted weapon dropped from his 
consolaiion to reflect, amidst the general de-, hand. 



pravity of mankind, that two instances, in the 
same acre, have occurred, where powers of 
this kind were employed solely for the pur- 
poses for which they were given. 

" It is not my intention, sir, to follow the 
Polish chief throughout the career of victory. 



" Kosciusko was conveyed to the dungeons 
of Petersburgh — and, to the eternal disgrace 
of the Empress Catherine, she made him the' 
object of her vengeance, when he could no 
longer be the object of her fears. Her more 
generous son restored him to liberty. The 



which, for a considerable lime crowned his remainder of his life has been spent m vir- 
eflbrls. Guided by his talents, and led by | tuous retirement. Whilst in this situation in 
his valour, his undisciplined, iily-armed . France, an anecdote is related of him •which 
militia charged with effect the veteran Rus-| strongly illustrates the command which his 
sian and Pru?siari: the mailed cuirassiers of, virtues and his services had obtained over the 
the great Frederic, for the first time, broke minds of his countrymen, 
and fled before the lighter and appropriate " In the late invasion of France, some Polish 



cavalry of Poland. Hope filled the breast 
of the patriots. After a long night, the dawn 
of an apparently glorious day broke upon 
Poland. But to the discerning eye of Kosci- 
usko, the light which it shed was of that 
sickly and portentous appearance, indicating 
a storm more dreadful tlian that which he had 
resisted. 

" He prepared to meet it with firmness, 
but with means entirely inadequate. To the 
advantages of numbers, of tactics, of disci- 
pline, and inexhaustible resources, the com- 
bined despots had secured a faction in the 
heart of Poland. And' if that country can 
boast of having produced its Washington, it 
is disgraced also by giving birth to a second 
Arnold. The day at length came which was 
to decide the fate of a nation and a hero. 
Heaven for wise purposes, determined that it 
should be the last of Polish liberty. It was 
ilecided, indeed, before the battle commenced. 
The traitor Poniski, who covered with a 



regiments, in the service of Russia, passed 
through the village in which he lived. Some 
pillaging of the inhabitants brought Kosciusko 
from his cottage. ' When I was a Polish 
soldier,' said he, addressing the plunderers, 
♦the property of the peaceful citizen was re- 
spected.' 'And who art thou,' said an officer, 
' who addresses us with this tone of autho- 
rity ■?' ' I ara Kosciusko.' — There was magic 
in the word. It ran from corps to corps. 
The march was suspended. They gathered 
round him, and gazed, with astonishment and 
awe, upon the mighty ruin he presented. 
' Could it indeed be their hero,' whose fame 
was identified with that of their country ■? A 
thousand interesting reflections burst upon 
their minds; they remembered his patriotism, 
his devotion to liberty, his triumph, and his 
glorious fall. Their iron hearts were softened, 
and the tears of sensibility trickled down their 
weatherbeaten faces. We can easily con- 
ceive, sir, what would be the feelings of the 



detachment the advance of the Polish army, j hero himself in such a scene. His great 

heart must have heaved with emotion, to find 
himself once more surrounded by the compa- 
nions of his glory ; and that he would have 
been upon the point of saying to thern— 



abandoned his position lo the enemy, and 
retreated. 

" Kosciusko was astonished, but not dismay- 
ed. The disposition of his army would have 
done honour to Hannibal. The succeeding 
conflict was terrible. When the talents of 
the general could no longer direct the mingled 
mass of combatants, the arm of the warrior 
was brought to the aid of his soldiers. He 
performed prodigies of valour. The fabled 
prowess of Ajax, in defending the Grecian 



" ♦ Behold your general, come once mora 
To lead you on to laurell'd victory, 
To fame, to freedom.' 

"The delusion could have lasted but for a 
moment. He was himself, alas ! a miserable 
ships, was realized by the Polish hero. Nor cripple ; and, for them ! they were no longer 
was he badly seconded by his troops. As long, the soldiers of liberty, but the instruments ot 
as his voice could guide, or his example fire ambition and tyranny. Overwhelmed with 
their valour, they were irresistible. In this grief at the reflection, he would 
unequal contest, Kosciusko was long seen. 



and finally lost to their view. 



retire to his 
cottage, to mourn afresh over the miseries of 
his country. 



Harrisori's Speech on the Seminole War. 



26 



«* Suchwas the man, sir, for whose memory 
I ask from an AniPrican Congress, a sligltt 
tribute of respect. Not, sir, to perpetuate his 
fame — but our <rratitude. His fame will last 
as long as liberty remains upon the earth ; as 
loncf as a votary offers incense upon her altar, 
ihe'name of Kosciusko will be invoked. And 



aorree with me that General Jackson has done 
wronor, 1 must be permitted to decline the use 
of the address which he has so oblitrintrly pre- 
pared for us, and substitute the following, as 
more consonant to our views and opinions. If 
the resolutions pass, I would address him thus: 
' In the performance of a sacred duty imposed 



if, by the common consent of the world, a by their construction of the constitution, the 
temple shall be erected to those who have representatives of the people have found it 
rendered 



most service to mankind, if the 
statue of our great countryman shall occupy 
the place of the ' most worthy,' that of Kosci- 
usko will be found by his side, and the wreath 
of laurel will be entwined with the palm of 
virtue to adorn iiis brow." 

GENERAL HARRISON's SPEECH ON THE 
SEMINOLE WAR. 

During tliis session, there occurred in 
the House of Representatives, the interest- 
ing debate on the resolution to censure 
General Jackson for his conduct in the 
Seminole war. On liiis occasion General 
Harrison delivered an able and eloquent 
speech. It was one of the finest efforts 
elicited at this time, and was characterized 
by a spirit of manly independence and 
patriotic impartiality. It concluded in 
these words : 

" If the highes't services could claim indein- 
nity for crime, then mijjht the conqueror of 
PlalBea have been suffered to continue his 
usurpations until he had erected a throne upon 
the ruins of Grecian liberty, Sir, it will not 
be understood that I mean to compare General 
Jacksen with these men. No; I believe thai 
the principles of the patriot are as firmly fixed 
in his bosom as those of the soldier. But a 
republican government should make no dis- 
y-tinctions between men, and should never relax 
/ its maxims of security for any individual, how- 
ever distinguished. No man should be al- 
lowed to say that he could do that with im- 
punity which another could not do. If the 
Father of his Country were alive, and in the 
administration of the government, and had au- 
thorized the taking of the Spanish posts, I 
would declare my disapprobation as readily as 
I do now. Nay, more — because the more dis- 
tinguished the individual, the more salutary 
the example. No one can tell how soon such 
an example may be beneficial. General Jacli- 
6on will be faithful to his country; but I recol- 
lect that the virtues and patriotism of Fabius 
and Scipio, were soon followed by the crimes 
of Marius and the usurpation of Sylla, I am 
sure, sir, that it is not the intention of any gen- 
tleman upon this floor to rob General Jackson 
of a single ray of glory ; much less to wound 
his feelings, or injure his reputation. And 
wliilst I thank my friend from Mississippi, 
(Mr, Poindexier,) in ihe name of those who 



necessary to disapprove a single act of your 
brilliant career; they have done it in the full 
conviction that the hero who has guarded her 
rights in the field, will bow with reverence to 
the civil institutions of his country — that he 
has admitted as his creed that the character of 
ihe soldier can never be complete without 
eternal reference to the character of the citi- 
zen. Your country has done for you all that 
a country can do for the most favoured of her 
sons. The age of deification is past; it was 
an age of tyranny and barbarism : the adora- 
tion of man should be addressed to his Creator 
alone. You have been feasted in the Pritanes 
of the cities. Your statue shall be placed in 
the Capitol, and your name be found in the 
songs of the virgins. Go, gallant chief, and 
bear with you the gratitude of your country. 
Go, under the full conviction, that as her glory 
is identified with yours, she has nothing more 
dea^to her than her laws, nothing more sacred 
than her constitution. Even an unintentional 
error should be sanctified to her service. It 
will teach posterity that the government which 
could disapprove the conduct of a Marcellus, 
will have the fortitude to crush the vices of a 
Marius,' 

"These sentiments, sir, lead to results in 
which all must unite. General Jackson will 
stiil live in the hearts of his fellow-citizens, 
and the constitution of your country will be 
immortal." 

In 1816, a resolution was introduced in 
the Senate of the United Stales, voting 
gold medals and the thanks of Congress to 
General Harrison and Governor Shelby. 
Owing to the opposition of personal ene- 
mies, and to certain charges, which as we 
have before said, were triumphantly refuted, 
an unsuccessful effort was made to strike 
out General Harrison's name. On hearing 
of this attempt. Governor Shelby, immedi- 
ately wrote to his old commander as fol- 
lows : 

" Don't let the conduct of the Senate disturb 
your mind. I hope their resolution has been 
laid over as to both of us. 'I'he moment I 
heard of the course it was like to take, I wrote 
instantly to Mr. Clay, and expressed my regret 
that it had been introduced, and how mortified 
I should feel to be noticed, if you were not in<= 
eluded who had rendered ten times more ser* 
vice to ih9 nation than I had*" 



26 



Calumny refuted. 



Soon afier, the select committee, appoint- 
ed to investigate the charges brouglu against 
General Harrison, made llie report to wiiich 
we have before referred — in which they 
fully acquitted him of all these charges, and 
staled that in their unanimous opinion, he 
stood above suspicion, and that he was in 
his meanires governed by the proper zeal 
and devotion to the public interest. 

On the 24lh of March, 1818, Mr. Dick- 
erson, formerly Governor of New Jersey, 
and late Secretary of War, under an ap- 
pointment from President Jackson, again in- 
troduced the resolution votiofj gold medals, 
and the thanks of Congress to Harrison 
and Shelby, and sustained the resolution 
by an eloquent eulogium on the services of 
General Harrison, It passed the Senate 
by a unanimous vote, and was concurred 
in by the House with but one dissenting 
voice. It is as follows : 

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United Slates of Ame- 
rica, in Congress assembled, That the thanks 
of Congress be, and they are hereby presented 
to Major-General William Henry Harrison, 
and Isaac Siielby, late Governor of Kentucky, 
and through them to the officers and men un- 
der their command, for their gallantry and good 
conduct in defeating the combined British and 
Indian forces, under Major-General Proctor, on 
the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the fifth' 
day of October, one thousand eight hundred 
and thirteen, capturing the British army, with 
their baggage, camp equipage, and artillery ; 
and that the President of the United States be 
requested to cause two gold medals to be 
struck, emblematical of this triumph, and pre- 
sented to General Harrison, and Isaac Shelby, 
late Governor of Kentucky. 

" H. Clay, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

" John Gaillard, 
President of the Senate, pro tempore. 

" April 4th, 1818 Approved. 

" James Monroe." 

On the expiration of General Harrison's 
term of service in the House of Represen- 
tatives of the United States, he was elected 
to the Senate of Ohio. One of his votes, 
while serving in this station, has been so 
perverted as to give rise to the absurd 
charge that he voted in favour of a law to 
sell white persons, imprisoned under a 
judgment for debt, for a term of years, if 
ihey could not otherwise discharge the 
execution. This charge is utterly false. 
But it cannot be better refuted, than by 



inserting the letter written bv General 
Harrison to the editor of the' paper in 
which this charge first appeared. 

" North Bend, 22d December, 1821. 

"Sir— In your paper of the 15ih instant, I 
observed a most violent attack upon eleven 
other members of the late Senate and myself, 
for a supposed vole given at the last session 
for the passatje of a law to ' sell debtors in 
certain cases.' If such had been our conduct, 
I acknowledge that we should not only deserve 
the censure which the writer has bestowed on 
us, but the execration of every honest man in 
society. An act of this kind is not only 
opposed to the principles of justice and hu- 
manity, but would be a palpable violation of 
the constitution of the State, which every 
legislator is sworn to support; and sanctioned 
by a House of Representatives and twelve 
Senators, it would indicate a stale of depra- 
vity which would fill every patriotic bosom 
with the most alarming anticipations. But 
the fact is, that no such proposition was ever 
made in the Legislature or even thought of. 
The act to which the writer alludes, has no 
more relation to the collection of 'debts,' than 
it has to the discovery of longitude. It was 
an act for the punishment of offences against 
the State, and that part of it which has so 
deeply wounded the feelings of your corre- 
spondent, was passed by the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and voted for by the twelve Sena- 
tors, under the impression that it was the most 
mild and humane mode of dealing with the 
offenders for whose cases it was intended. It 
was adopted by the House of Representatives 
as a part of the general system of criminal law, 
which was then undergoing a complete revi- 
sion and amendment; the necessity of this is 
evinced by the following facts: for several 
years past, it had become apparent that the 
penitentiary system was becoming more and 
more burdensome at every session ; a large 
appropriation was called for to meet the ex- 
cess of expenditure, above the receipts of the 
establishment. In the commencement of the 
session of 1820, the deficit amounted to near 
twenty thousand dollars. 

"This growing evil required the immediate 
interposition of some vigorous legislative 
measure; two were recommended as being 
likely to produce the effect; first, placing the 
institution under better management ; and 
secondly, lessening the number of convicts 
who were sentenced for short periods, and 
whose labour was found of course to be most 
unproductive. In pursuance of the latter 
principle, thefts to the amount of fifty dollars, 
or upwards, were subjected to punishment in 
the penitentiary, instead of ten dollars, which 
was the former minimum sum ; this was 
easily done. But the great difficulty remain- 
ed to determine what should be the punish- 



General Harrison elected to the Senate of the United States. 27 



nient of those numerous larcenies below the 
sum of fifty dollars. By some, whippinor was 
proposed, by others, punishment by hard 
labour in the county jails, and by others, it 
was thought best to make Ihem work on the 
highways. 

"To all these there appeared insuperable 
objections : fine and imprisonment was adopt- 
ed by the House of Representatives, as the 
only alternative; and as it was well known 
that these vexatious pilferings were generally 
perpetrated by the most worihless vagabonds 
in society, it was added that when they could 
not pay the fines and costs, which are always 
part of the sentence and punishment, their 
services should be sold out to any person »vho 
would pay their fines and costs for them. 
This was the clause which was passed, as 1 
believe, by a unanimous vote of the House, 
and stricken out in the Senate, in opposition 
to the twelve who have been denotiiinated. A 
little further trouble in examining the journals, 
would have shown your correspondent that 
this was considered as a substitute for whip- 
ping, which was lost in the Senate, and in the 
House by a small majority, after being once 
passed. 

"I think, Mr. Editor, I have said enough 
to show that this obnoxious law would not 
have applied to ' unfortunate debtors of sixty- 
four years,' but to infamous offenders, who 
depredate upon the property of their fellow- 
citizens, and who, by the constitution of the 
State, as well as the princijjle of existing 
laws, were subject to involuntary servitude. 
I must confess I had no very sanguine expec- 
tations of beneficial effects from this measure, 
as it would apply to convicts who had attained 
the age of maturity. But I had supposed that 
a woman or a youth, who was convicted of an 
offence, and remained in jail for the payment 



ciples of our constitution, and ought to be 
abolished. I am, sir, your hunibie seivant, 
(Signed) " VVm. Henry Harrison." 

In the autumn of the following year, 
General Harrison published an eloquent 
atklress to the voters of his district, from 
which we make the following quotation : 

"I believe, that upon the preservation of 
the union of the States depends the existence 
of our civil and religious lil)erties ; and that 
the cement which binds it together is not a 
parcel of words, written upon paper or parch- 
ments, but the brotherly love and regard 
which the citizens of the several States pos- 
sess for each other. Destroy this, and the 
beautiful fabric which was reared and embel- 
lished by our ancestors, crumbles into ruins. 
From its disjointed parts no temple of liberty 
will again be reared. Uiscord and wars will 
succeed to peace and harmony — barbarism 
will again overspread the land ; or, what is 
scarcefy better, some kindly tyrant will pro- 
mulgate the decrees of his will, from the seat 
where a Washington and a Jefferson dis- 
pensed the blessings of a free and equal 
government. I believe it, therefore, to be the 
duty of a representative to conciliate, by every 
possible means, the members of our great 
political family, and always to bear in mind 
that as the union was effected only by a spirit 
of mutual concession and forbearance, so only 
can it be preserved.'^ 

In 1824 General Harrison was elected 
to the Senate of the United Slates ; and 
soon after taking his seat, he was appointed 
Chairtrian of the Military Committee, in 
place of General Jackson, who had re- 



of the fine and costs imposed, might with ^iy,,ed. While serving in this high station, 
great advantage be transferred to the residence ,^ „ , i„,] ,,,,\„^^^.:,] 



of some decent, virtuous, private family,! 
whose precept and example would greatly ^ ^'^^^'^' 
lend to lead them back to the paths of virtue. 
I would appeal to the candour of your corre- 
spondent to say whether if there were an 
individual confined under the circumstances I 
liave mentioned, for whose fate he was in- 
terested, he would not gladly see him trans- 
ferred from the filthy enclosure of a jail, and 
the still more filthy inhabitants, to the com- 
fortable mansion of some virtuous citizen, 
whose admonition v/ould check his vicious 



commanded universal respect. His 
as a statesman, were liberal and 
extended, — his remarkalile readiness in 
debate soon rendered him a prominent 
mentiber, — and the nervous and impassion- 
ed eloquence, and classical felicity of illus- 
tration, with which he enforced his argu- 
ments, gained him much inlluence. 

As Chairman of the Military Committee, 
General Harrison introduced a bill h)r the 
prevention of desertion in the army. 'J'his 



propensities, and whose a\nhority over him [object, with his customary and generous 
would be no more than is exercised over humanity, he proposed to effect, not by 
thousands of apprentices in our country, and ii^c-gasing the punishntent, but by raising 
those bound servants which are tolerated in|,j^g ,,,o,^| character of the armv i by ele- 
our, as well as in every other State in thel^^jj,^,^ ^,^g .^j^ j,f ^,^g non-commissioned 
Union. Far from advocating the abominable' " '^ 



principles attributed to me by your correspon- 
dent, I think that imprisonment for debt, 
under any circumstances but those where 
fraud is alleged, is at war with the best prin- 



ofTicer ; by increasing his pay and respon- 
sibility ; and by holding out additional 
inducements to the common soldier ^ to 
perforin his duty faithfully. He likewise 



28 



Extempore Address to General Lafayette. 



devoted liimself warmly to the subject of 
military pensions ; and endeavoured lo pro- 
cure ilie passage of a uniform law em- 
bracing the cases of all those who then 
were, or who should be deservjno' of that 
species of honourable reward and justice 
from their country. His efforts, on this 
occasion, in favour of the surviving soldiers 
of the revolution, will not soon be forgotten 
by the descendants of those heroes. 

GENERAL HARRISOn's ADDRESS TO 
LA FAYETTE. 

On the occasion of La Fayette's visit to 
Cincinnati, in 1825, General VVintield 
Scott (if we recollect right) was to have 
addressed him on behalf of the citizens of 
that place,"but was prevented by indisposi- 
tion. General Harrison was then waited 
on by the Committee of Arrangements, 
only fifteen minutes before the arrival of 
La Fayette. He had not lime to prepare 
for so unexpected an honour, yet he 
promptly obeyed the call of his fellow- 
citizens, and delivered the following address 
extempore : 

" General La Fayette — In the name of the 
people of Cincinnati, I bid you welcome to 
their city. 

"In other places, General, your reception 
has been marked by a display of wealth and 
splendour which we could not imitate, even if 
it were not incompatible with (he simplicity of 
manners and habits, which distinguish the 
backwoodsmen of America. Uul let me assure 
you, General, that in no part of the Union, or 
the whole earth, is there to be found a greater 
respect for your character, a warmer gratitude 
for your services, or a more affectionate attach- 
ment to your person, than in the bosoms ol 
those who now surround you. 

" But if we cannot rival some of our sister 
states in the splendour of our exhibition, or in 
the fascinating graces of a highly polished 
society, to a mind like yours we can present 
a more interesting spectacle— the effects of 
those institutions, for the establishment of 
which your whole life has been devoted, in 
producing in the course of a few years a de- 
gree of prosperity, and a sum of human 
happiness, which you have seen no where 
surpassed in the wide circuit of your tour. 
When you last embarked for your adopted 
country. General, the bounds of this extensive 
State, did not contain a single white inhabitant. 
No plough had yet marked a furrow on its 
luxuriant soil. One unbroken mass of forest 
equally sheltered a few miserable savages and 
the beasts which were their prey, 



" In this immense waste no human being 
offered the song of praise or thanksgivingr to 
the throne of the Creator: the country and its 
inhabitants presented the same appearance of 
wild, savage, uncultivated nature. But now 
see the chancre : ' the wilderness and the soli- 
tary places have been made glad, and the 
desert to blossom as the rose.' 

"There is no deception, General, in the ap- 
pearances of prosperity which are before you. 
This flourishing city has not been built, like 
the proud capital on the frozen Neva, by the 
command of a despot, directinjr the labour ot 
obedient millions. It has been reared by the 
hands of freemen. It is the natural niart of a 
highly cultivated country. These crowded 
streets are filled with the inhabitants of this 
city and its vicinity, and are a part of the seven 
hundred thousand Christian people who daily 
offer up their orisons to Heaven for the innu- 
merable blessings they enjoy. The youth who 
form your guard of one hundred thousand en- 
rolled freemen, whose manly bosoms are the 
only ramparts of our State — have all assem- 
bled to present the freewill offering of their 
aflections to the benefactor of their country. 

"Happy Chief! How different must be 
your feelings from those of the most distin- 
iruished commander, who, in the days of 
Rome, conducted to the capital the miserable 
captives, and the jrlittering spoils of an un- 
righteous war. This, your triumph, has not 
brought to the millions who have witnessed it, 
a single painfid emotion. Your victories have 
not caused a sigh from the bosom of a human 
being, unless it be from the tyrants whose 
power to oppress their fellow-men they have 
curtailed. 

" Happy man ! The influence of your ex- 
ample will extend beyond the tomb. Your 
fame, associated with that of Washington and 
Bolivar, will convince some future Caesar, that 
the path of duly, is the path of true glory; 
and, that the character of a warrior can never 
he complete, without faithfully following the 
character of a citizen. 

" Welcome ! then, companion of Washing- 
ton, friend of Franklin, of Adams and .Teffer- 
son ; devoted champion of Liberty, welcome I" 

Harrison's support of the navy of the 
united states. 

Though early associated with the Army, 
General Harrison nevertheless evinced an 
equal degree of zeal and ardour in his sup- 
port of the Navy of the United States, 
and convinced of its national importance, 
he availed himself of every opportunity to 
uphold its interests and to bear testimony to 
iis important services, and^io the gallantry 
and jiood conduct of its officers. The ani- 
ajaied debate which arosfi in the Senate on 



Harrison's sttjyport of the Navy. 



29 



tTie bill for the gratltial improvement of the 
Navy, t!ie establishment of a Naval Aca- 
demy, and for the erection of Dry Docks, 
elicited from General Harrison one of the 
ablest and most eloqnent speeches delivered 
on that occasion. On the motion to lay 
lliis bill on the table, f<ir the purpose of 
defeating it altogether, General Harrison 
said, that 

*'Mnch as the people of the interior com- 
plained that a sufficiency of the funds of the 
country was not applied to internal improve- 
ments, he should have given the bill his sup- 
port, had it gone even farther than it does, in 
applying the means of the country to the in- 
crease of the Navy. Indeed, he thought no 
policy could be better than to apply the whole 
of the surplus fund to that ohject. No one 
could be more fully convinced than he was of 
the absolute necessity existing for the increase 
of that most valuable part of our national de- 
fence — the Navy. He could have wished that 
the gentleman from Maine had gone further, 
and shown that it was not necessary to pre- 
serve timber. As to the subject of the dry 
docks, he considered them equally necessary 
as the ships themselves, being required for 
refitting and enabling vessels to take the sea 
with despatcli. The gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Hayne,) had gone into a most 
satisfactory explanation of this portion of the 
bill, and he should add but a few words. The 
necessity of being able to refit ships of war at 
a short notice, had been exemplified often in 
lustnry ; and had, doubtless, at times decided 
the fate of sreat victories. It was known that 
when the English and Dutch were contending 
for the mastery of the sea, after having fought 
many battles, and become crippled in some 
degree on both sides, they retired into their 
respective ports, and contended with equal 
vigour for the mastery in refitting. On the 
subject of naval education, Mr. H. disagreed 
with tiie gentleman from Maine. He had 
said that navigation could only be learned on 
the ocean and on board ship. This was cer- 
tainly true as to the mere mechanical part of 
navigation. Our ships could not, it was well 
known, be brought on land and manoeuvred, as 
were those of the old Romans preparatory to 
their being carried into action. But did it 
follow that navigation could not be learned on 
shore as well as other sciences ] There were 
documents before the Senate to show that 
midshipmen, while out of employment, en- 
joyed no means of improving themselves for 
future service, or for cultivating those natural 
abilities which might eventually increase the 
renown of our country. It iiad been eloquently 
said by the gentleman from South Carolina, 
that the brilliant victories of our gallant navy 
were mainly attributable to the iolelligence 



of our officers. This was a just tribute to 
those officers who had gained, during the last 
war, such permanent glory for themselves and 
the nation. If, then, so much had already 
resulted from the employment of officers pos- 
sessed not only of bravery, but of intelligence, 
there could hardly be a doubt of the vast utility 
and eminent policy of establishing a seminary 
where the nsinds of our young naval officers 
might be tutored in the science to which their 
lives were to be devoted." 

The motion was negatived, and the de- 
bate upon the bill continued. Mr. Smithy 
of South Carolina, moved to strike out all 
that part of the bill which provided for the 
erection and government of a Naval Aca- 
demy. In support of his motion, he de- 
livered a speech in which he ridiculed the 
notion that education was necessary to 
constitute efficient naval officers ; and lie 
cited Perry, McDonough, and Rodgers, as 
striking instances of good officers not edu- 
cated to the profession. To this speech 
General Harrison made a brilliant reply, 
from which we quote the following pas- 
sages : 

" As to the naval officers, to whom the gen- 
tleman had alluded, Mr. H. believed ho was, 
in some of his remarks, in error. For instance, 
Commodore Decatur did not enter the navy 
until he was grown to manhood, and had re- 
ceived a good education. It was also within 
the knowledge of Mr. H. that Perry was an 
educated man. It was an argument wiiich 
had rather surprised him, that education would 
not render our officers more devoted to their 
country. He thought, on the contrary, that a 
liberal course of instruction would serve to 
attach them to the country. There were other 
considerations of some importance. Numerous 
instances might be cited in which the cha- 
racters of men, engaged in warlike [)ursuits, 
were humanized by education. Besides, it 
was loo late in the day to endeavour to depre- 
ciate the benefits of education in any class of 
the community. By that alone were the free 
institutions of onr country sustained ; and 
when the great objects of science should have 
been neglected, he should consider this coun- 
try on the high road to destruction. He could 
sately say, from personal knowledge of the 
facts, that the school contemplated in the por- 
tion of the bill now under discussion was of 
the most immediate necessity to our navy. 
He had conversed with many midshipmen, 
and he found that they were generally of that 
situation in life in which their parents could 
not afford to educate them, 'i'he navy was not 
a service into which rich men sent their sons; 
and it seemed but proper that the Governmetiij 



30 



Harrisori's Mission to Colombia — His Letter to Bolivar. 



shotilJ prepare the officers in their youth for 
the duties which they would afterwards be 
called to perforiin. He felt none of the dislike 
expressed by the fjentlemnn from South. Ca- 
rolina to the indulorenoe granted these youno 
men, or the general appearance they were pro- 
>perly ambitious to support. H^r. H. loished 
them to be, as far as possible, accomplished 
men, lolio ivoiild, in foreign countries, do 
honour to the American character. They had 
shown a laudable zeal in endeavouring to im- 
prove themselves, as he was informed that the 
system had been generally adopted by the 
officers of the navy to set apart a portion of 
their pay for the purchase of books. Even 
this, he had no doubt, was productive of much 
good to the country, as it conferred much 
credit on the officers themselves. Many of 
our naval officers had shown themselves well 
acquainted with the laws of nations, and their 
communications with foreign Powers had re- 
dounded to the honour of themselves and of 
the nation. Certainly these men deserved the 
favourable consideration, and the most liberal 
treatment from the Government. The country 
was in every respect interested in preparing 
them, by a proper education for the arduous 
and perilous duties, to tlie performance of 
which their lives were devoted. Therefore, 
he considered the section of this bill which 
provides for the establishment of a naval 
school one of its most valuable features, and 
he hoped it would meet the sanction of tiie 
Senate." 

Harrison's mission to Colombia — -his 
letter to bolivar. 

In 1828, General Harrison was appoint- 
ed by President Adams, envoy extraordi- 
nary and minister plenipotentiary to the 
Republic of Colombia. He accepted this 
appointment, and proceeding immediately 
upon his mission, landed at Maracaybo on 
the 22d of December, in that year, and 
ihence repaired to Bogota, the capital of 
Colombia. He was received with liie most 
flattering demonstrations of respect ; but 
liis liberal ideas, his stern integrity, and 
the plain republican simplicity of his dress 
and manners, were too strongly in contrast 
with the arbitrary opinions, and the osten- 
tatious display of the Court at Bogota, to 
permit him long to remain a favourite with 
the public officers and tiie courtiers of the 
Colombian Government. They soon 
began to fear that the people would per- 
ceive the difference between a real and a 
pretended patriot, and that a comparison 
so disadvantageous to themselves might 
perhaps seriously interfere with their grasp- 
ing ambition for the future. But though 



too honest and puie-minded to be a favour- 
ite at this court, General Harrison's intelli- 
gence, his strict attention to ihe duties of 
his office, and his manly and gallant bear- 
ing commanded universal respect. 

The Republic of Colombia was at that 
time in a very deplorable condition ; the 
people were ignorant of their rights, and 
almost in a stale of anarchy ; and Bolivar 
was apparently about to assume the despo- 
tic power of a military dictator. Shocked 
at this state of things, General Harrison, 
with the frankness of an old soldier, wrote 
his celebrated letter to Bolivar, not in his 
diplomatic capacity, but as a personal friend, 
and addressed him in a strain of noble and 
tlirilling eloquence which has rarely been 
equalled. So chaste and vigorous is the 
language of this letter, and so deeply is it 
imbued with the purest and most exalted 
sentiments of republican freedom, that, 
limited as our space is, we cannot refrain 
from giving it to our readers entire. 

Bogota, Sept. 27, ISa:!. 

Sir: — If there is any thing in the style? 
the matter, or the object of this letter which is 
calculated to give offence to your Excellency, 
I am persuaded you will readily forgive it, 
when you reflect on the motives which induce 
me to write it. An old soldier could possess 
no feelings but those of the kindest character 
towards one who has shed so much lustre on 
the profession of arms ; nor can a citizen of 
the country of Washington cease to wish that, 
in Bolivar, the world might behold another 
instance of the highest military attainments 
united with the purest patriotism, and the 
greatest riapacity for civil government. 

" Such, sir, have been the fond hopes, not 
only of the people of the United Stales, but of 
the friends of liberty throughout the world. 
I will not say that your Excellency has 
formed projects to defeat those hopes; but 
there is no doubt that they have not only been 
formed, but are, at this moment, in progress 
to maturity, and openly avowed by those who 
possess your entire confidence. I will not 
attribute to these men impure motives; but 
can they be disinterested advisers? Are they 
not the very persons who will gain most by 
the proposed change ? — who will, indeed, gain 
all that is to be gained, without furnishing 
any part of the equivalent? That ^/i«/, the 
price of their future wealth and honours, is to 
be furnished exclusively by yourself! And 
of what does it consist? Your great charac- 
ter. Such, an one, that, if a man were wise, 
and possessed of the empires of the Caesars 
in its best days, he would give all to obtain. 
Are you prepared to make this sacrifice for 
such an object ? 



Letter to Bolivar. 



31 



"I am persuaded that those who advocate , of power — the executive government remained 
these measures have never dared to induce! in the hands of those to whom it had heen 
you to adopt them by any argument founded committed by the people in a fair election, 
on your personal interests; and that, to sue- 1 In fact, no people ever passed from under the 
ceed, it would be necessary to convince you yoke of a despotic government, in the enjoy- 
that no olher course remained to save ihe ment of entire freedom, with a less disposi- 



country from the evils of anarchy. Tiiis is 
the question, tlien, to be examined. 

" Does the history of this country, since the 
adoption of the constitulion really exhibit 
unequivocal evidence that the people are unfit 
to be free? Is the exploded opinion of a 
European philosopher of the last age, that 
" in the new hemisphere man is a degraded 
being," to be renewed and supported by the 
example of Colombia] The proofs, indeed, 
should be strong to induce an American to 
adopt an opinion so humiliating. 

" Feeling always a deep interest in the suc- 
cess of the revolutions in the late Spanish 
America, I have never been an inattentive 
observer of events pending, and posterior to, 
the achievement of its independence. In these 
events I search in vain for a single fact to 
show that, in Colombia at least, the state of 
society is unsuiied to the adoption of a free 
government. Will it be said that a free 
government did exist, hut, being found inade- 
quate to the objects for which it had been 
instituted, it had been superseded by one of a 
ditferent characier, with a concurrence of a 
majority of the people? 

" It is the most difficult thing in the world 
for me to believe that a people in the posses- 
sion of their rights as freemen would be ever 
willing to surrender them and submit them- 
selves to the will of a master. If any such 
instances are on record, the power has heen 
thus transferred in a moment of extreme public 
danger, and then lim.ited to a very short period. 
I do not think that it is by any means certain 
that the majority of the French people favour- 
ed the elevation of Napoleon to the throne of 
France ; but, if it were so, how different were 
the circumstances of that country from those 
of Colombia when the constitution of Cucuta 
was overthrown ! At the period of the eleva- 
tion of Napoleon to the first Consulate all the 
powers of Europe were the open or the secret 
enemies of France; civil war raged within 
her borders ; the hereditary King possessed 
many partisans in every province; the people, 
continually betrayed by the factions which 
murdered and succeeded each other, had 
imbibed a portion of their ferocity, and every 
town and village witnessed the indiscriminate 
slaughter of both men and women, of all par- 
ties and principles. Does the history of Co- 
lombia, since the expulsion of the Spaniards, 
present any parallel to these scenes ? Her 
frontiers have been never seriously menaced 
— no civil war raged — not a partisan of the 
former government was to be found in the 
whole extent of her territory — no factions 
contended with each other for the possession 



tion to abuse their newly acquired power than 
those of Colombia. They submitted indeed, 
to a continuance of some of the most arbitrary 
and unjust features which distinguished the 
former government. If there was any dispo- 
sition on the part of the great mass of the 
people to effect any change in the existing 
order of things — if the Colombian acts from 
the same motives and the same principles 
which govern mankind elsewhere and in all 
ages, they would have desired to take from 
the government a part of the power which, in 
their inexperience, they had confided to it. 
The monopoly of certain articles of agricultu- 
ral produce, and the oppressive duty of the 
Alcavala, might have been tolerated until the 
last of their tyrants were driven from the 
country. But, when peace was restored, 
when not one enemy remained within its 
borders, it might reasonably have been sup- 
posed that the people would have desired to 
abolish these remains of arbitrary government 
and substitute for them some tax more equal 
and accordant with republican principles. 

" On the contrary, it is pretended that they 
had become enamoured with these despotic mea- 
sures, and so disgusted with the freedom they 
did enjoy, that they were more tlian willing to 
commit their destinies to the uncontrolled will 
of your Excellency. Let me assure you, sir, 
that these assertions will gain no credit with 
the present generation, or with posterity. 
They will demand the facts which had in- 
duced a people, by no means deficient in intel- 
ligence, so soon to abandon the principles for 
which they had so gallantly fought, and 
tamely surrender ihat liberty which had been 
obtained at the expense of so much blood. 
And what facts can be produced ? It cannot 
be said that life and property were not as well 
protected under the republican government as 
they have ever been ; nor that there existed 
any opposition to the constitution and laws 
too strong for the ordinary powers of the 
government to put down. 

" If the insurrection of General Paez, in 
Venezuela, is adduced, I would ask by what 
means was he reduced to obedience? Your 
Excellency, the legitimate head of the repub- 
lic, appeared, and in a moment all opposition 
ceased, and Venezuela was restored to the 
republic. But it is said that this was effected 
by your personal influence and the dread of 
your military talents; and that, to keep 
General Paez and other ambitious chiefs from 
dismembering the republic, it was necessary 
to invest your Excellency with the extraordi- 
nary powers you possess. There would be 
some reason in this if you had refused to act 



32 



Letter to Bolivar. 



without these powers; or, having acted as 
you did, you had been unable to accomplish 
any lhin<j without them. But you succeeded 
completely, and there can be no possible rea- 
son assiifiied why you would not have suc- 
ceeded w iih the same means against any future 
attempt of General Paez, or any other general. 

*' There appears, however, to be one senti- 
ment in which all parlies unite : that is, that, 
as matters now stand, you alone can save the 
country from ruin, at least, from much cala- 
mity. They ditFer, however, very widely as 
to the measures to be taken to put your Excel- 
lency in the way to render this important ser- 
vice. The lesser and more interested party 
is for placing the government in your iiands 
for life; either vviiii your present title, or with 
one which, it must be confessed, better ac- 
cords with the nature of the powers to be 
exercised. If they adopt the less offensive 
title, and if they weave into their system some 
apparent checks to your will, it is only for the 
purpose of masking, in some degree, their real 
object — which is nothing short of the esta- 
blishment of a despotism. The plea of neces- 
sity, that eternal argument of all conspirators, 
ancient or modern, against the rights of man- 
kind, will be resorted to, to induce you to 
accede to their measures ; and the unsettled 
elate of the country, which has been design- 
edly produced by them, will be adduced as 
evidence of that necessity. 

"There is but one way for your Excellency 
to escape from the snares which have been so 
artfully laid to entrap you, and that is, to stop 
short in the course which, unfortunately, has 
been already commenced. Every step you 
advance under the influence of such counsels 
will make retreat more difficult, until it will 
become impracticable. You will be told that 
the intention is only to vest you with authority 
to correct what is wrong in the administration 
and to put down the factions, and that, wiien 
the country once enjoys tranquillity, the 
government may be restored to the people. 
Delusive will be the hopes of tho«e who rely 
upon this declaration. The promised hour of 
tranquillity will never arrive. If events tend- 
ed to produce il, they would be counteracted 
by the government itself. It was the strong 
remark of a foririer President of the United 
States, that ' Sooner will the lover be content- 
ed with the first smiles of his mistress than a 
government cease to endeavour to preserve 
and extend its powers.' With whatever re- 
luctance your Excellency may commence the 
career — with whatever disposition to abandon 
it when the objects for which it was com- 
menced have been obtained — when once fairly 
entered, you will be borne along by the irre- 
sistible force of pride, habit of command, and, 
indeed, of self-preservation, and it will be 
impossible to recede. 

" But it is said that it is for the b'enefit of 
the people that the proposed change is to be 



made: and that, by your talents and influence 
alone, aided by unlimited power, the ambitious 
chiefs in the different departments are to be 
restrained, and the integrity of the republic 
preserved. I have said, and I most sincerely 
believe, that, from the state into which the 
country has been brought, you alone can pre- 
serve it from the horrors of ananthy. But I 
cannot conceive that any extraordinary powers 
are necessary. The authority to see that the 
laws are executed, to call out the strength of 
the country to enforce their execution, is-,all 
that is required and is what is possessed by 
the Chief Magistrate of the United States, 
and of every other republic; and is what was 
confided by the constitution of Cucuta. Would 
your talents or your energies be impaired in 
the council or the field, or your influence les- 
sened, when acting as the head of a republic? 

" I propose to examine, very briefly, the 
results which are likely to flow from the pro- 
posed change of government: 1st, in relation 
to the country; and 2d, to yourself person- 
ally. Is the tranqiiillity of the country to be 
secured by it 1 Is it possil)le for your Excel- 
lency to believe that, when the mask has been 
thrown off and the people discover that a 
despotic government has been fixed upon them, 
they will quietly submit to hi Will they 
forget the pass-word which, like the cross of 
fire, was the signal for rallying to oppose their 
former tyrants] Will the virgins at your 
hiddino- cease to chant the songs of liberty 1 
Was the patriotic blood of Colombia all ex- 
pended in the fields of Vargas, Bayaca, and 
Carebobo? The schools may cease to enforce 
upon their pupils the love of country, drawn 
from the examples of Cato and the Bruli, 
Harmodius and Aristogiton ; but the glorious 
example of patriotic devotion exhibited in 
your Hacienda will supply their place. De- 
pend upon it, sir, that the moment v.'hich shall 
announce the continuance of arbitrary power 
in your hattds will be the commencement of 
commotions which will require all your 
talents and energies to suppress. You maj' 
succeed. The disciplined army at your dis- 
posal may be too powerful for an unarmed, 
uodisc-iplined, and scattered population; but 
one unsuccessful effort will not content them, 
and your feelings will be eternally racked by 
being obliged to make war upon those who 
have been accustomed to call you their father 
and" to invoke blessings on your head, and for 
no cause but their adherence to principles 
which you yourself had taught them to regard 
more than their lives. 

"If by the strong government which the 
advocates for the proposed change so strenu- 
ously recommend, one without responsibility 
is intended, which may -put men to death and 
immure them in dungeons without trial, and 
one where the army is every thing and the 
people nothiiig, I must say that, if the tran- 
quillity of Colombia is to be preserved in this 



Letter to Bolivar. 



33 



way, llie wildest anarchy would be preferable. 
Oiil of thai anarchy a better jjoverninent mirrht 
arise; but the chains of military despotism 
once fastened upon a nation, acres might pass 
vuvay before tliey could be shaken off'. 

" But I contend that the stroiijrest of all g-o- 
vernmenls is that which is most free. We 
consider that of the United States the stronir 
f-st, precisely because it is most free. It pos- 
sesses ttie faculties, equally, to protect itself 
from foreign force or domestic convulsion. In 
both it has been sufficiently tried. In no coun- 
try upon earth would an armed opposiiitm to 
the laws be sooner or more efTectually put 
down ; not so much by the terrors of the 2"''- 
lotiiie and the gibbet, as from the aroused de- 
termination of the nation exhibiting their 
strengtli, and convincing the factious that 
their cause was hopeless. No, 'sir, depend 
upon it, that the possession of ariiitrary power 
by the government of Colombia will fiot he 
the means of securing its tranquillity: nor 
will the danger of disturbances solely arise 
from the opposition of the people. The 
power and the military fnrce'Whirh it will be 
necessary to put into the hatids of the gover- 
nors of distant provinces, added to the nature 
of the country, will continually present to 
those officers the temptation and the means to 
revolt. 

" Will the proposed change restore pros- 
perity to the country ? With the best inten- 
tions to do so, will you be able to recall com- 
merce to its shores, and give new life to the 
drooping state of agriculture ? The cause of 
the constant decline in these great interests 
cannot be mistaken. It arises from the few- 
ness of those who labour. To support a swarm 
of idle and luxurious monks, and an army 
greatly disproportioned to the resources of 
the country — with a body of officers in a ten- 
fold degree disproportioned to the army, every 
branch of industry is oppressed with burdens 
which deprive the ingenious man of the profits 
of his ingenuity — the laborer of his reward. 
To satisfy the constant and pressing demands 
which are made upon it, the Treasury seizes 
upon every thing within its grasp, destroyino- 
the germ of future prosperity. Is there any 
prospect that these evils will cease with the 
proposed change? Can the army be dis- 
pensed with 1 Will the influence of the 
monks be no longer necessary 1 Believe me, 
sir, that the support which the government 
derives from both these sources will be more 
than ever requisite. 

" But the most important inquiry is, the 
effect which this strong government will have 
\ipon the people themselves. Will it tend to 
improve and elevate their character, and fit 
them for the freedom which it is pretended is 
e.ltimalely to be bestowed upon them ] The 
question h,is been answered from the age of 
Homer. Man does not learn under oppression 
those noble qualities and feelings which fit 



I him for tlie enjoyment of liberty. Nor is 
I despotism the proper school in which to ac- 
I quire a knowledge of the p inciples cf repub- 
lican government. A trovernment who5e re- 
venues are derived from diverting the very 
sources of wealth frem its subjrcis, will not 
find the means of iiij|)roving lire morals and 
enlightening the minds of youth by sii|)porting 
systems of liberal education ; and, if ii would, 
could not. 

" In relation to the eflfect which this invest- 
ment of power is to have upoir your hapjiiness 
and your fame, will the ponrp and glitter of a 
court and the flattery of venal courtiers, re- 
ward you for the troirhies arrd anxieties attend- 
ant upon the exercise of sovereignty, every 
where, and those which flow from your pecu- 
liar situation 1 — Or power supported by the 
bayonet, for that willing homage which you 
were wont to receive fronr your fellow-citizens 1 
The groans of a dissatisfied aird oppressed peo- 
ple will penetrate the inmost recesses of your 
palace, and you will be tortured by the reflec- 
tion that you no longer possess that place in 
their afl^ection which was once your pride and 
your boast, and which would have been your 
solace under every reverse of fortune. Uti- 
supported by the people, your authority can 
be maintained only by the terrors of the sword 
and the scaff'old. Arrd have these ever been 
sirccessful under sinrilarcircunrstairces? Blood 
may smother for a period, but can never extin- 
guish, the fire of liberty which you have con- 
tributed so mrrch to kindle in the bosom of 
every Colombian. 

"1 will not urge, as an argutment, the per- 
sonal dangers to which you will be exposed. 
But I would ask if you could enjoy a life 
which would be preserved by the constant 
execution of so many humarr beings — your 
countrymen, your former friends, and almost 
your worshi|>pers ] The pangs of such a 
situation will be made more acute by reflect- 
ting upon the hallowed motive of many of 
those who would aim their daggers at yonr 
bosom ; that, like the last of the Ronrans, 
they vvoirld strike, not from hatred to the man, 
but Idve to the coirntry. 

" From a knowledge of your own disposi- 
tion and personal feelings, yoirr Excellency 
will not be willing to believe that you could 
ever be brought to commit an act of tyranny, 
or even to execute jirsiice with uir necessary 
rigour. But trust nie, sir, that there is nothing 
more corrupting — nothing more destructive of 
lire noblest feelings of our natirre, than the 
exercise of unlimited power. The man who, 
in the beginning of such a career, might shud- 
der at the idea of taking away the life of a 
fellow-being, might soon have his conscience 
so seared by the repetition of crime, that the 
agonies of his murdered victim might become 
nrusic to his soul, and the drippings of his 
scaffold micrht aff'ord ' blood enough to swim 
in,' History is full of such examples. 



34 



Letter to Bolivar. 



" From tliis disgusting picture permit me to 
call the attention of your Excellency to one of 
a different character. It exhibits you as the 



"To yourself the advantage would be as 
orreat as to the country — like acts of mercy, 
the blessings would be reciprocal : your per- 



constitutional magistrate of a free people, I sonal happiness secured, and elevated to a 
giving to their representation the influence of height which would leave but a single compe- 
your great name and talents to reform theUition in the estimation of posterity. In be- 
abuses which, in a long reign of tyranny and stowing the palm of merit the world has 



misrule, have fastened upon every branch of 
the administration. The army and its swarm 



become wiser than formerly. The successful 
warrior is no longer regarded as entitled to 



of officers reduced within the limits of real i the first place in the Temple of Fame, 
usefulness — placed on the frontiers, and no Talents of this kind have become too com- 
longer permitted to control public opinion and mon, too often used for mischievous purposes, 
be the terror of the peaceful citizen; by the ^ to be regarded as they were once. In this 
removal of this incubus fiom the treasury, and : enlightened age, the mere hero of the field 
the establishment of order, responsibility and and the successful leader of armies, may for 
economy in the expenditures of the govern- 'a moment attract attention. But it will be 
ment, it would soon dispense with the odious such as is bestowed upon the passing meteor, 
monopolies, and the doty of the Alcavala, ' whose blaze is no longer remembered when it 
which have operated with so malign an effect lis no longer seen. The qualities of the hero 
upon commerce and agriculture, and, indeed, and the general must be devoted to the good 
upon the revenues which they were intended of mankind, before he will be permitted to 
to augment. No longer oppressed by these assume the title of their benefactor, and the 
shackles, industry would every where revive ; station he will hold in their regard and affec- 
the artisan, cheered by the prospect of ample tions will depend not upon the number and 
reward for his labour, would redouble his the splendour i(»f. his victories, but upon the 
exertions ; foreigners, with their capital and results and the use he makes of the influence 
skill in the arts, would crowd hither to enjoy he acquires from them. 

the advantages which could scarcely else-! " If the fame of our Washington depended 
where be found: and Colombia would soon [upon his military achievements, would the 
exhibit the reality of the beautiful fiction of [common consent of the world allow him the 
Fenelon : Salentum rising from misery and pre-eminence he possesses ? The victories at 
oppression to prosperity and happiness, under Trenton, Monmouth, and York, brilliant as 
the counsels and direction of the concealed they were, exhibiting, as they certainly did, 
goddess. the highest grade of military talents, are 

" What objection can be urged against this [scarcely thought of. The source of the vene- 
course? Can any one acquainted with the ration and esteem which is entertained for his 
circumstances of the country, doubt its sue- character, by every description of politicians 
cess in restoring and maintaining tranquillity 1 — the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as 
The people would certainly not revolt against j the republican — is to be found in his unde- 
Ihemselves; and none of the chiefs who are viating and exclusive devotedness to the 
supposed to be factiously inclined, would interest of his country. No selfish considera- 
think of opposing the strength of the nation , tion was suffered to intrude itself into his 
when directed by your power and authority. , mind. For his country he conquered; and 
But it is said that the want of intelligence ; the unrivalled and increasing prosperity of 
among the people unfits them for free govern- that country is constantly adding fresh glory 
ment.° Is it not rio-ht, however, that the ex- to his name. General — the course which he 



periment should be fairly tried "? I have 
already said that this has not been done. For 



pursued is open to you, and it depends upon 
yourself to attain the eminence which he has 



myself, I do not hesitate to declare my firm reached before you. 
belief that it will succeed. The people of "To the eyes of military men, the laurels 
Colombia possess many traits of character [you won on the fields of Var, Bayaca, and 
suitable for a republican government. A more Carebo, will be for ever green ; but will that 
orderly, forbearing, and well-disposed people content you? Are you willing that your 
are no where to be met with. Indeed, it may I name should descend to posterity, amongst 
safely be asserted that their faults and vices Uhe mass of those whose fame has been de- 
may be attributable to the accursed govern- rived from human blood, without a single 



ment to which they have been so long sub- 
jected, and to the intolerant character of their 



advantage to the human race 1 Or shall it be 
united to that of Washington as the,, founder 



religion, whilst their virtues are all their own. i and father of a great and happy people '•The 
But admitting the present want of intelligence, I choice is before you. The friends of liberty 
no one has ever doubted their capacity to ac- 1 throughout the world, and the people of the 
quire knowledge, and under the strong mo- United States in particular, are waiting your 
tives which exists to obtain it, supported by decision with intense anxiety. Alexander 
the influence of your Excellency, it would toiled and conquered to obtain the applause ot 
soon be obtained. the Athenians ; will you regard as nothing 



Harrison's Address before an Jlgricultural Society. 



35 



the opinions of a nation which has evinced its 
superiority over that celebrated people, in the 
science most useful to nnan, by having carried 
into actual practice a system of government 
of which the wisest Athenians had but a 
glimpse in theory, and considered as a bless- 
ing never to be realized, however ardently 
desired ] — The place which you are to occupy 
in their esteem depends upon yourself. 

"Farewell. W. H. Harrison." 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL 
OF COLOMBIA TO GENERALHARRISON. 

Soon after the inaiigaration of President 
Jackson, early in March, 1829, General 
Harrison was recalled from liis mission to 
Colombia. At his audience of leave, the 
President of the Council addressed him in 
the following words ; 

"In expressing to you. Sir, the sentiments 
of the Council towards your Government, it is 
agreeable to me to declare, that the hopes 
formed by Colombia, when the appointment 
was announced of so distinguished a general, 
and one of the most eminent citizens of the 
oldest republic of America, have been realized 
by your residence in this capital, as envoy 
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary 
near this government; and therefore it is 
highly satisfactory to me, to show the high 
esteem which your personal qualities have in- 
spired." 



desolation, and of blood, what wonders have 
now succeeded ! More than the efforts of 
unaided man could have accomplished — the 
hand of heaven is to be distinctly traced. 
Yes ! it is to thy influence, fair Liberty, 

'Daughter of Heaven ! who with indignant eye, 
On pomp and pageant royalty looks down,' 



GENERAL HARRISON AS A FARMER — HIS AD- 
DRESS TO THE HAMILTON COUNTY AGRICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 

After General Harrison's return from Co- 
lombia, he retired to North Bend, and 
devoted himself to the peaceful pursuits of 
a farmer. 

In June, 1831, he was chosen to deliver 
an Address before the Hamilton Agricultural 
Society, at their annual exhibition on the 
15lh of that month. From this valuable 
production we make the following quo- 
tations : 

" Thirty-eight years ago, the spot on which 
we are now assembled was a dreary wilder- 
ness. Not a habitation was to be seen save 
a solitary, deserted cabin, which only added 
to the gloom by which it was surrounded. 
No sound of voices, as now, was heard from 
men busied in the fulfilment of the commands 
of the Creator, to cultivate and improve the 
earth. The silence was unbroken, save by 
the shout of the Christian warrior, or the ap- 



thaf we ascribe these wonders, only to be 
effected under institutions which leave the 
actions of man unfettered, and his mind as 
free as the air he breathes." 

****** 

"The encouragement of agriculture, gen- 
tlemen, would be praiseworthy in any country ; 
in our own it is peculiarly so. Not only to 
multiply the means and enjoyments of life, 
but as giving greater stability and security to 
our political institutions. In all ages and in 
all countries it has been observed that the 
cultivators of the soil are those who are least 
willing to part with their rights, and submit 
themselves to the will of a master. I have 
no doubt also, that a taste for agricultural 
pursuits, is the best means of disciplining the 
ambition of those daring spirits, who occa- 
sionally spring up in the world, for good or 
for evil, to defend or destroy the liberties of 
their fellow-men, as the principles received 
from education or circumstances may tend. 
As long as the leaders of the IJoman army 
were taken from the plough, to the plough 
thoy were willing to return. Never in the 
character of general, forgetting the duties of 
the citizen, and ever ready to exchange the 
sword and the triumphant purple, for the 
homely vestments of the husbandman. 

"The history of this far-famed republic is 
full of instances of this kind ; but none more 
remarkable than our own age and country have 
produced. The fascinations of power and the 
trappings of command were as much despised, 
and the enjoyment of rural scenes and rural 
employments as highly prized by our Wash- 
ington as by Cincinnatus or Regulus. At the 
close of his military career, he says, 'I atn 
preparing to return to that domestic retirement, 
which it is well known I left with the deepest 
regret, and for which I have not ceased to sigh 
through a long and painful absence.' 

" Your efforts, gentlemea, to diflTuse a taste 
for agriculture amongst men of all descriptions 
and professions, may produce results more 
important even than increasing the means of 
subsistence, and the enjoyment of life. It 
may cause some future conqueror to end his 
career 

' Guiltless of his country'' s blood.'' " 

The greater part of this address is of a 
more practical nature — conveying to the 



palling yell of the savage, as they mingled In [society before whom it was delivered, a 
mortal combat. To this scene of solitude, of .valuable fund, of useful information, well 



36 



General Harrison nominated for the Presidency. 



and forcibly explained by appropriate illus- 
trations, and giving the most convincing 
evidence that General Harrison is liimselt 
a GOOD FARMER, Combining theory and 
practice in the most eflicient manner. 

COLONEL RICHARD M. JOHNSOn's OPINION OF 
GENERAL HARRISON. 

In the year 1831, Colonel Richard M. 
Johnson, now Vice-President of the United 
States, said, in Congress — 

" Who is General Harrison ■? The son of 
one of the signers of Ihe Declaration of In- 
dependence, who spent liie greater part of his 
large fortune in redeeming the pledge he tiien 
gave, of his ' fortune, life and sacred honour,' 
to secure the liberties of his country. 

" Of the career of General Harrison I need 
not speak— the history of the West, is his 
history. For forty years he has been iden- 
tified with its interests, its perils and its hopes. 
Universally beloved in the walks of peace, 
and di«tinguished by his ability in the coun- 
cils of his country, he has been yet more 
illustriously distinguislied in the field. 

"During the late war, he was longer in 
active service than any other general ofllcer ; 
he was, perhaps, ofiener in action than any 
one of them, and never sustained a defeat." 

Harrison's discourse on the adorigines of 
the valley of the ohio. 



" It is in youth, and in early youth, that the 
seeds of that patriotism must be sown, which 
is to continue to bloom through life. No one 
ever began to be a patriot in advanced age. 
That holy fire must be lighted up when the 
mind is best suited to receive with enthusiasm, 
generous and disinterested impressions. If it 
is not then ' the ruling passion' of the bosom, 
it will never be at an age when every action is 
the result of cool calculation, and the basis of 
that calculation too often the interest of the 
individual. This has been the prevailing opi- 
nion with every free people, throughout every 
stage of civilization, from the roving savage 
tribe to the numerous and polished nation; 
from the barbarous Pelasgi to the glorious era 
of Milliades and Cymon, or the more refined 
and luxurious age of Pericles and Xenophon. 
By all, the same means were adopted. With 
all, it was the custom to present to tlieir youth 
the examples of the heroic achievements of 
their ancestors, to inspire tiiem with the same 
ardour of devotion to the welfare of their 
country. As it regards the argument, it mat- 
ters not whether the history was written or 
unwritten ; whether in verse or in prose ; or 
how communicated ; vvhcllier by naiion-il an- 
nals, to which all iiad access ; by recitation in 
solemn assemblies, as at the Olympic and 
otlier games of Greece; in the songs of bards, 
as among the Celts and Scandinavians ; or in 
the speeclies of the aged warriors, as was 
practised by tlie Wyandnis, Delawares, fc^haw- 
necs, and other tribes of our own country. 

Much fiction was no doubt passed off on these 
occasions, as real history ; but as it was be- 
lieved to be true, that was sufficient to kindle 

the spirit of emulation in the cause of pa- 



in th6.aiUumn of 1837, at the request of , , ., 

the Philosophical and Historical Society of triotism among those to whom thj^se /e^'l^ 
uic 1 MiiuouiMii _ -i tmns. snnas. and soeeches were addressed. 



Ohio, General Harrison delivered a dis- 
course on the Aborigine? of the Valley of 
the Ohio. In this discourse he contests 
the opinion advanced by the Hon. Cadwal- 
lader Golden, in his " History of the five 
Indian Nations of Canada," and which is 
likewise asserted by Governor Pownal, and 
by many others, that the original inha- 
bitants of that valley were conquered by 
the Iroquois. He proves that this alleged 
subjugation of the uorthweslern tribes by 
that warlike confederation, rests on no 
competent authority ; and he brings for- 
ward convincing evidence to show tliat the 
favoured region through which the Ohio 
flows, as well as the contiguous country, 
has been for many centuries as it now is, 

"The land of the free and the home of the 
brave." 

In endeavouring to enforce the great im- 
portance of a proper study of history. Ge- 
neral Harrison says, in this discourse : 



tious, songs, and speeches were addressed. 

"In the remarks 1 have made, it is by no 
means my intention to deny the good effects 
wh ch have been derived from some works of 
fiction, and that they have greatly assisted 

» To raise the genius and to mend the heart.' 
Cut this result is better effected by authentic 
history." 

'IMiroughout the whole of this discourse 
there is a vein of deep thought and eahn 
reflection, aided by a profound research 
and scholastic knowledge rarely attained. 
It abounds too, in that ready and happy elo- 
quence for which its author has always been 
peculiarly noted. We regret that our limits 
will not permit us to indulge more freely 
in quotations from this able production. 



GENERAL HARRISOn's NOJilNATION AS A CAN- 
DIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 

In the spring of 1836, General Harrison 
was nominated as a candidate for the Pre- 



Letter to the Hon. Sherrod Williams. 



37 



siJency, by a spontaneous movemenl of 
the people in various parls of the Union. 
Notuillislanding the late period al whicli 
iliis nomination was made, in tlie fifteen 
Slates in wliich Mr. Van Buren and Ge- 
nera! Harrison were opposed to each other, 
the latter received five hundred and fifly- 
two thousand, and the former but five liun- 
dred and eighty tliousand voles — a very 
small majority under existing circumstances. 
It is now very clearly ascertained that but 
for the want of a combined action on the 
part of Ills, friends, and their supineness 
arising from a' distrust of their own 
strength, General Harrison would have 
been elected to the Presidency at that time, 
and the people would have been spared tiie 
mortification and misery, tliey have been 
compelled to endure under the present ad- 
ministration. 

GENERAL IIARRISON's LETTER TO THE HON. 
SHERROD WILLIAMS. 

Wliile this election was pending, the 
Hon. Sherrod Williams, a member of 
Congress from Kentucky, addressed a letter 
of inquiry to General Harrison, which 
drew from iiiin the following reply : 

"Norili Bend, May 1, 1831. 

"Sir — I have the iionour to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the 7th ultimo, in 
which you request me to answer the following 
questions : 

" First: ' Will yon, if elected President of 
the United (States, sign and approve a bill 
distributing the surplus revenue of the United 
States, to each state according to the federal 
population of each, for internal improvement, 
t^ducation, and to such other objects as the 
legislatures of the several states may see fit to 
apply the same V 

" Second : ' Will you sign and approve a 
bill distributing the proceeds of the sales of 
the pul)lic lands to each state, according to the 
federal population of each, for the purposes 
above specified ]' 

"Third: 'Will you sign and approve bills 
making appropriations to improve navigable 
streams above ports of entry ]' 

"Fourth: 'Will you sign and approve (if 
it becomes necessary to secure and save from 
depreciation the revenue and finances of the 
nation, and to alford a. uniform sound cur- 
mjency to the people of the United Stales) a 
bill, with proper modifications and restrictions, 
chartering a bank of the United States?' 

"Fifth: 'What is your opinion as to the 
constitutional power of the Senate or House of 
Representatives of the Congress of the United 
Stales, to e.xpunge or obliterate from the 



journals, the records and proceedings of a pre- 
vious session V 

"From the manner in which the four first 
questions are stated, it appears that you do 
not ask my opinions as to the policy or pro- 
priety of the measures to which tiiey respec- 
tively refer ; but what would be my course, if 
ihey were presented to me (being in the presi- 
dential chair of the United States) in the 
shape of bills, that had been duly passed by 
the Senate and House of Representatives. 

" From the opinions which I have formed of 
the intention of the constitution, as to cases in 
which the veto power should be exercised by 
the President, 1 would have contented myself 
with giving an affirmative answer to the four 
first questions ; but, from the deep interest 
which has been and indeed is now felt in re- 
lation to all the subjects, 1 think it proper to 
express my views upon each one separately. 

"I answer, then, first: That the immediate 
return of all the surplus money which is, or 
ought Id be, in the Treasury of the United 
States, to the possession of the people from 
whom it was taken, is called for by every 
principle of policy and, indeed, of safety to 
our institutions : and I know of no mode of 
doing it better than that recommended by the 
present chief magistrate, in his first annual 
messajje to Connrress in the followinor words: 
' To avoid these evils it appears to me that 
the most safe, just, and federal disposition 
which could be 7nade of the surplus revenue, 
would be its apportionment among the several 
stales according to the ratio of representa- 
tion.'' 

"This proposition has reference to a state 
of things which now actually exists, with the 
exception of the amount of money thus to be 
disposed of; for it could not have been anti- 
cipated by the President that the surplus above 
the real wants or convenient ex{ienditure3 of 
the government would become so large, as 
that retainintr it in the treasury would so 
much diminish the circulating medium as 
greatly to embarrass the business of the coun- 
try. 

" What other disposition can be made of it, 
with a view to get it into immediate circula- 
tion, but to place it in the hands of the state 
authorities ] So great is Ihe amount, and so 
rapidly is it increasing, that it could not be 
expended for a very considerable time on the 
comparatively few objects to which it could 
be appropriated by llie general government ; 
but the desired distribution amongst the peo- 
ple could be immediately effected by the 
states, from the infinite variety of ways in 
which it might be employed by them. By 
them it might be loaned lo their own banking; 
institutions, or even to individuals — a mode 
of distribution by ihe general government, 
which I sincerely hope is in the contemplation 
of no friend to his country, 

"Second; Whilst I have always broadly 



38 



Letter to the Hon. Sherrod Williams. 



admitted that the public lands were the 
common property of all the states, I have 
been the advocate of that mode of disposing 
of them, which would create the greatest 
number of freeholders; and I conceived that 
in this way the interests of all would be as 
well secured as by any other disposition ; but 
since, by the small size of the tracts in which 
the lands are now laid out, and the reduction 
of the price, this desirable situation is easily 
attainable by any person of tolerable industry, 
I am perfectly reconciled to the distribution 
of the proceeds of the sales, as provided for 
by the bill introduced into the Senate by Mr. 
Clay; the interests of all seem to be well 
provided for by this bill ; and as, from the 
opposition which has hitherto been made to 
the disposition of the lands heretofore contem- 
plated by the representatives of the new 
states, there is no probability of its being 
adopted, I think it ought no longer to be insist- 
ed on. 

"Third: As I believe that no' money 
should be taken from the treasury of the 
United States to be expended on internal im- 
provements but for those which are strictly 
national, the answer to this question would 
be easy, but from the difficulty of determining 
which of those that are from time to time pro- 
posed, would be of this description. This 
circumstance, the excitement which has already 
been produced by appropriations of this kind, 
and the jealousies which it will, no doubt con- 
tinue to produce if persisted in, give additional 
claims to the mode of appropriating all the sur- 
plus revenue of the United States in the man- 
ner above suggested. Each state will then 
have the means of accomplishing its own 
schemes of internal improvement. Still there 
will be particular cases when a contem- 
plated improvement will be of greater advan- 
tao-e to the Union generally, and som.e par- 
ticTular states, than to that in which it is to be 
made. In such cases, as well as those in the 
new states, where the value of the public 



to each other, which can create any unfriendly 
feeling, if the common guardian administers 
its favours with an even and impartial hand. 
That this may be the case, all those to whom 
any portion of this delicate power is entrusted, 
should always act upon the principles of for- 
bearance and conciliation; ever more ready 
to sacrifice the interests of their immediate 
constituents, rather than violate the rights of 
the other members of the family. Those who 
pursue a different course, whose rule is never 
to stop short of the attainment of all which 
they may consider their due, will often be 
found to have trespassed upon the boundary 
they had themselves established. The obser- 
vations with which I shall conclude this letter, 
on the subject of the veto power by the Presi- 
dent, will apply to this as well as your other 
questions. 

" Fourth : I have before me a newspaper, 
in which I am designated by its distinguished 
editor, ' The hank and federal candidate.'' I 
think it would puzzle the writer to adduce 
any act of my life which warrants him in 
identifying me with the interest of the first, or 
the pontic's of the latter. Having no means 
of ascertaining the sentiments of the directors 
and stockholders of the Bank of the United 
States, (which is the one, I presume, with 
which it was intended to associate me) I can- 
not say what their course is likely to be in 
relation to the ensuing election for President. 
Should they, however, give me their support, 
it will be evidence, at least, that the opposi- 
tion which 1 gave to their institution in my 
capacity of representative from Ohio, in Con- 
gress, proceeded, in their opinion, from a 
sense of duty which I could not disregard. 

The journals of the second session of the 
thirteenth and those of the fourteenth Con- 
gress, will show that my votes are recorded 
against thetn upon every question in which 
their interest was involved. I did, indeed, 
exert myself in the senate of Ohio, to procure 
a repeal of the law, which had imposed an 
domain will be greatly enhanced by an im- enormous tax upon the branches which had 
provement in the means of communication, | been located in its boundaries at the request 
the general government should certainly of the citizens. The ground of those exertions 
largely contribute. To appropriations of the was not the interest of the bank ; but to save 
latter character there has never been a very 



warm opposition. Upon the whole, the dis- 
tribution of the surplus revenue amongst the 
states seems likely to remove most, if not all, 
the causes of dissension of which the internal 
improvement system has been the fruitful 
source. There is nothing, in my opinion, 
more sacredly incumbent upon those who are 
concerned in the administration of our govern- 
ment, than that of preserving harmony between 
the states. From the construction of our 
system, there has been, and probably ever 
will be, more or less jealousy between the 
general and state governments; but there is 
nothing in the constitution — nothing in the 
character of the relation which the states bear 



what 1 considered the honour of the state, 
and to prevent a controversy between the 
state officers and those of the United States. 

»' In the spring of 1834, I had also the 
honour to preside at a meeting of the citizens 
of Hamilton county, called for the purpose 
of expressing their sentiments in relation to 
the removal of the public money from the 
custody of the bank, by the sole authority of 
the executive. As president of the meeting^. 
I explained at some length the object for 
which it was convened, bu* I advanced no 
opinion in relation to the rechartering of the 

bank. . o • 

" A most respectful memorial to the h'resi- 
dent in relation to the removal of the depo- 



Letter to the Hon. Sherrod Williams. 



39 



sites was adopted, as were also resolutions in 
favour of rechartering the bank; but, as 1 
have already said, this was not the purpose! 
for which the meeting was called, and not 
one upon which, as presiding officer, I was 
called upon to give an opinion, but in ihe 
event of an equal division of the voter. 

" As a private citizen, no man can be more 
entirely clear of any motive, either for the re- 
chartering the old institution, or creating a 
new one^under the authority of the United 
States. I never had a single share in the 
former, nor, indeed, in any bank, with one 
exception ; and that many years ago failed, 
with the loss of the entire stock. I have no 
inclination again to venture in that way, even 
if I should ever possess the means. With the 
exception above mentioned, of stock in a 
hank, long since broken, I never put out a 
dollar at interest in my life. My interest being 
entirely identified with the cultivation of the 
soil, I am immediately and personally connect- 
ed with none other. 

" I have made this statement to show you that 
I am not committed to any course in relation 
to the chartering of a bank of the United 
States: and that 1 might if so disposed, join in 
the popular cry of denunciation against the 
old institution, and upon its misconduct, pre- 
dicate an opposition to the chartering cf an- 
other. 

*' T shall not, however, take this course, so 
opposite to that which I hope I have followed 
through life, hut will give you my sentiments 
clearly and fully, not only with regard to the 
future conduct of the government on the 
subject of a national bank, but in relation 
to the operations of that which is now de- 
funct. 

" I was not in Congress when the late bank 
was chartered, but was a member of the thir- 
teenth Congress, after its first session, when 
the conduct of the bank, in its incipient 
measures was examined into ; and believing. 



rights of the states, I do not entertain a 
doubt.'' But the period for rechartering the 
old institution has passed, as Pennsylvania 
has wisely taken care to appropriate to herself 
the benefits of its large capital. 

" The question, then, for me to answer, is 
whether, under the circumstances you state, 
if elected to the office of President, I would 
sign an act to charter another bank. I an- 
swer, I would, if it were clearly ascertained 
that the public interest in relation to the col- 
lection and disbursement cf the revenue would 
materially suffer without one, and there were 
unequivocal manifestations of public opinion 
in its favour. 1 think, however, the experi- 
ment should be fairly tried, to ascertain whe- 
ther the financial operations of the govern- 
ment cannot be as well carried on without the 
aid of a national bank. If it is not necessary 
for that purpose, it does not appear to me 
that one can be constitutionally chartered. 
There is no construction which I can give the 
constitution which would authorize it, on the 
srround of affording facilities to commerce. 
The measure, if adopted, must have for its 
object the carrying into effect (facilitating at 
least the exercise of) some one of the powers 
positively granted to the general government. 
If others flow from it, producing equal advan- 
tages to the nation, so much the better ; but 
tliese cannot be made the ground for justifying 
a recourse to it. 

"The excitement which has been produced 
by the bank question, the number and respecta- 
bility of those who deny the right to Congress 
to charter one, strongly recommended the 
course above suggested. 

"Fifth: I distinctly answer this question, 
that, in my opinion, neither House of Con- 
gress can constitutionally expunge the record 
of the proceedings of their predecessors. 

" The power to rescind certainly belongs 
to them ; and is, for every legitimate purpose, 
all that is necessary. The attempt to expunge 



from the result of the investigation, that theja part of their journal, now making in the 
charter had been violated, I voted for the! Senate of the United States, I am satisfied 
judicial investigation, with a view of annul- could never have been made but in a period of 



ling its charter. The resolution for 
pose, however, failed ; and shortly after, the 
management of its affairs was committed to 
the talents and integrity of Mr. Cheves. 
From that period to its final dissolution, 
(although I must confess I am not a very 
competent judge of such matters,) I have no 
idea that an institution could have been con- 
ducted with more ability, integrity, aud public 
advantage than it has been. 

" Under these impressions, I agree with 
General Jackson in the opinion expressed in 
one of his messages to Congress, from which 
I make the following extract: ' That a bank 
of the United States, co7npetent to all the 
duties which may be required by the govern- 
ment, might be so organized as not to infringe 
on our delegated powers, or the reserved 



the highest party excitement, when the voice 
of reason and generous feeling is stifled by 
long protracted and bitter controversy. 

"In relation to the exercise of the veto 
power by the President, there is, I think, an 
important difference in opinion between the 
present chief magistrate and myself. I ex- 
press this opinion with less diffidence, because 
I believe mine is in strict accordance with 
those of all the previous Presidents to General 
Jackson. 

" The veto power, or the control of the 
executive over the enactment of laws by the 
legislative body, was not unknown in the 
United States previously to the formation of 
the present federal constitution. It does not 
appear, however, to have been in much favour. 
The principle was to be found in but three of 



40 



Letter to the Hon. Sherrod Williams. 



the state constitutions ; and in I)nl one of iJiPm i 
(Massachusetts) was the oxocniive power | 
lodged ill liie handsof a sintrlecliit f niagristrale. ' 
One otiier stale (Souih Carolina) had, indeed, 
not only adopted this principle, bui had given 
its single executive magistraie an absohite 
negative upon the acts of the legislature. In 
all other instances it has been a qualified 
negative, like that of the United States. The 
people of South Carolina seem, however, not 
to have been long pleased with ibis invest- 
ment of power in their governor, as it lasieil 
but two years; having been adopted in 1176. 
and repealed in 1778; from which time the 
acts of the legislature of that slate have been 
entirely freed from executive control. Since the 
adoption of the constitution of the United 
States, the veto principle iias been adopted by 
several states; and until very lately, it seemed 
to be rapidly growing into favour. 

" Before we can form a correct opinion of 
the manner in which this power should be 
exercised, it is proper to understand the rea- 
sons which have induced its adoption. In ils 
theory, it is manifestly an innovation upon 
the first principle of republican government — 
that the majority should rule. Why should a 
single individual control the will of a majo- 
rity ? 

" It will not be said that there is more pro- 
bability of finding greater wisdom in the ex- 
ecutive chair, than in the halls of the legisla- 
ture. Nor can it possibly be supposed, that 
an individual residing in the centre of an 
extensive country, can be as well acquainted 
with the wants and wishes of a numerous 
people, as those who come immediately from 
amongst them — the partakers, for a portion of 
the year, in the various labours and employ- 
ments ; and the witnesses of the effects of the 
laws in their more minute as well as genera! 
operations. 

" As far, then, as it regards a knowledge of 
the wants and wishes of the people, wisdom 
to discover remedies for existing evils, and 
devising schemes for increasing the public 
prosperity, it would seem that the legislative 
bodies did not require the aid of an executive 
magistrate. Rut ihere is a principle, recog- 
nised by all the American constituiions, which 
was unknown to the ancient republics. They 
all acknowledge rights in the niinoriiy, which 
cannot rightfully be taken from tliem. Ex- 
perience had shown iliat in large assemblies, 
these rights were not always respected. It 
would be in vain that they should be enu- 
merated, and respect for them enjoined, in the 
constitution. A popular assembly, under the 
influence of that spirit of parly which is al- 
ways discoverable in a greater or less degree 
in all republics, might and would, as it was 
believed, sometimes disregard them. To 
cruard against this danger, and to secure the 
rights of each individual, the expedient of 
creating a department independent of the 



nlhers, and amenable only to the laws, was 
adopted. Stcurity was thus given against 
any palpable violniion of the constitution, to 
the injury of individuals, or of a minority 
party. But it was still possible for a wilful 
and' excited majority to enact laws of the 
greatest injustice and tyranny, without vio- 
lating the loiter of their charter. 

"And this I take to be the origin of the 
veto power, as well in the state governments, 
as that of the United States. It appears to 
have been the inieniion to create an umpire 
between the contending factions, which had 
existed, it was believed, and would continue 
to exist. If there was any propriety in adopt- 
ing lliis principle in the government of a state, 
all the reasons in favour of it existed in a ten- 
fold degree for incorporating it in that of the 
United Stales. The operations of the latter, 
extending over an iminense tract of country, 
embracing the products of almost every clime, 
and that country divided too into a number of 
separate governments, in many respects in- 
dependent of each other and of the common 
federal head, left but little hope that they 
could always be carried on in liarmony. It 
could not be doubled that sectional interests 
would at times predominate in the bosoms of 
the immediate representatives of the people 
and the states, and combinations formed de- 
structive of the public good, or unjust and 
oppressive to a minority. Where could a 
power to check these local feelings, and to 
destroy ihe efTecfs of unjust combinations, be 
belter placed than in the hands of that de- 
jiartment whose authority, being derived from 
the same common sovereign, is co-ordinate 
with the rest, and which enjoys the great 
distinction of being at once the immediate 
representative of the whole people, as well as 
of each particular state] 

" In the former character, the interests of 
the whole community would be rigidly sup- 
ported, and, in the latter, the rights oi each 
member steadfastly maintained. The repre- 
sentation from the state authorities in the 
electoral colleges, I consider one of the most 
felicitous features in the constitution. It 
serves as an eternal memento to the ciiief 
magistrate that it is iiis duty lo guard the in- 
terests of the weak against the unjust aggres- 
sions of the strong and powerful. From these 
preiTiises, you will conclude that I consider 
the qualified veto upon the acts of the legisla- 
ture, conferred by the constitution upon the 
President, as a cnnservative power, intended 
only to be used to secure the instrument itself 
from violation, or, in tiines of high party ex- 
citement, to protect the rights of the minority, 
and the interests of the weaker members of 
the Union. Such, indeed, is my opinion, and 
such we must believe to he the opinion of 
nearly all the distinguished men who have 
filled the executive chair. If I were President 
of the United Slates, an act which did not in- 



General Hari'isoji's opinion of Duelling. 



41 



volveeiiher of ihe principles above enumeraird, 
must have been passed under very peculiar 
circumstances of precipitancy, or opposition 
to the known public will, to induce me to 
refuse to it my sanction. 

"If the opinion 1 have given of the motives 
of tlie framers of the constitution, in giving 
the veto power to the President, is correct, it 
follows, that they never could have expected 
that he who was constituted the umpire be- 
tween contending parties, should ever identify 
himself with the interests of one of them, and 
voluntarily raze himself from the proud emi- 
nence of leader of a nation to that of cliief of 
a parly. 1 can easily conceive the existence of 
a state of things by which the chief magis- 
trate of a state may be forced to act upon party 
princi[)les; but such a course is entirely op- 
posed' to all the obligations which the con- 
stitution imposes on a President of the United 
States. The immense infiuence he possesses 
will always give to his party the prepon- 
derance, and the very circumstance of its 
being an executive party w ill be the cause of 
infusing more bitterness and vindictive feeling 
in these domestic contests. Under these cir- 
cumsl-inres, the qualified veto given by the 
constitution may, if the President should think 
proper to change its character, become as ab- 
solute in practice as that possessed by the 
kings of England and France. From the 
great variety of local interests acting upon the 
members of the two houses of Congress, and 
from the difficulty of keeping aU the indivi- 
duals of a large party under the control of party 
discipline, laws will often be passed by small 
majorities adverse to the interests of the do- 
minant party ; but if tlie President should 
ihinK proper to use the veto power for the 
purpose of promoting the interests of his party, 
it will be in vain to expect that a majority so 
large as two-thirds in both houses would be 
f(jund in opposition to his wishes. In the 
hands of such a President, the qualified veto 
of the constitution would in practice become 
absolute. 

" I have, upon another occasion, expressed 
my views upon the danger of a dominant 
executive party. It may, perhaps, be said, 
that the chief magistrate will find it impossible 
to avoid the influence of party spirit. Several 
of our chief magistrates, however, have been 
able to escape its influence; or, what is the 
same thing, to act as if they did not feel it. 
As one mode of avoiding it, it would be my 
aim to interfere with the legislation of Con- 
gress as litile as possible. The clause in the 
constitution which makes it the duty of the 
President to give Congress information of the 
state of the Union, and to recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient, could never be in- 
tended to make him the source of legislation. 
Information should always be frankly given, 
and recom(neridalions upon such matters as 



come mere immediately under his cognizance 
than theirs. But there it should end. If he 
should undertake to prepare the business of 
legislation for the action of Congress, or to 
assume the character of code-maker for the 
nation, the personal interests which he will 
take in the success of bis measures will neces- 
sarily convert him into a partisan, and will 
totally incapacitate him from performing the 
part of that impartial umpire, which is Ihe 
character that 1 have supposed the constitution 
intends him to assume, when the acts passed 
by the legislature are submitted to his de- 
cision. 1 do not think it by any means 
necessary that he should take the lead as a 
reformer, even when reformation is, in his 
opinion, necessary. Reformers will be never 
wanting, w hen it is well understood that the 
poyvcr which wields the whole patronage of 
the nation will not oppose the reformation. 

"I have the honour to be, with great con- 
sideration and respect, Sir, your humble 
servant, 

" W. H. Harrison. 
" To the Honourable Sherrod Williams." 

GENERAL HARRISOn's OPINION OF DUELLING. 

In 1838 Aaron B. Howell, Esq. of N(^ 
Jersey, addressed a letter to General Har- 
rison on the subject of tkiilling, to which 
he made the following reply : 

" Norlh Bond. April Ttli, 1838. 

"Dear Sir — Yon ask my opinion 'of the 
code of honour which decides controversies 
by a resort to the duel.' I comply with your 
request, and would do so more readily, if I 
could suppose that any thing that I could say 
would have any influence in putting an end to 
a practice which is the cause of so much indi- 
vidual distress, and violates so many obliga- 
tions of the most sacred character. 

" The arguments which may be used against 
duelling are so obvious, and have been so often 
urged by persons, much more able to do them 
justice than I am, that I shall content myself 
with giving you what may be termed my ex- 
perience in matters of this kind. And as this 
certainly does not exhibit the practice in a 
very fascinating light, it may perhaps have a 
better eflect than any other mode of treating 
the subject that I could adopt. 

"I believe that there were more duels in 
the northwestern army between the years 1791 
and 1795, inclusive, than ever took place in 
the same length of lime, and amongst so small 
a body of men as composed the commissioned 
officers of the army, either in America, or any 
other country, at least in modern times. I 
became an officer in the first mentioned year. 
at so early a?i age, that it is not wonderful that 
I implicitly adopted the opinions of the older 
officers, most of whom were veterans of iha 



42 



General Harrison's opinion of Duelling. 



Revolution, upon this as well as upon other I men sensibility, and the principles of hu- 

subjects connected with my conduct and duty.; nianity and honour!— the sad alternatives 

in the profession I had chosen. I believed, I his own death, or a subsequent life of bitter 



therefore, in common with the larger portion 
of the officers, that no brave man would de- 
cline a challenge, nor refrain from giving one, 
whenever he considered that his rights or feel- 
ings had been trespassed upon. 1 must con- 
fess, too, that I was not altogether free from 
the opinion, that even honour might be ac- 
quired by a well fought duel. Fortunately, 
however, before I was engaged in a duel, 
either as principal or second, which termi- 
nated fatally to any one, I became convinced 
that all my opinions on the subject were 
founded in error, and none of them more so 
than that which depicted the situation of the 
successful duellist, as either honourable or 
desirable. It could not be honourable, be- 
cause the greater portion of that class of man- 
kind whose good opinion of an individual con- 
fers honour upon him, were opposed to it. 
And I had the best evidence to believe that, 
in the grave of the fallen duellist, was fre- 
qently buried the peace and happiness of the 
survivor; the act which deprived the one of 
existence, planting a thorn in the bosom of 
the other, which would continue to rankle and 
%ster there to the end of his days. The con- 
viction that such was the case with men of 
good feelings and principles, was produced by 
my witnessing the menial sufferings of an 
intimate and valued friend, by whose hand a 
worthy man had fallen. Several years had 
elapsed from the date of this affair, before I 
became acquainted with him. 

" We were soon after associated in the 
general staff of the army, and for the greater 
part of two years we shared the same tent or 
barrack-room, and often the same pallet. I 
had therefore an opportunity of seeing the 
agony he often felt, when his mind recurred 
to the event which had deprived society of a 
worthy member, and himself of an esteemed 
and cherished acquaintance. Like the unhap- 
py hermit in the tragedy of Douglass, he ap- 
peared, in his sleep, to » hold dialogues' with 
the ghost of the victim of his superior skill in 
the use of arms, or more perfect self-posses- 
sion ; and a witness to them might have 
adopted the opinion of the youthful Norval, 
that the happier lot was his who had fallen. 
Taking the rules which govern such matters, 
as the criterion, my friend had nothing where- 
with to accuse himself. The quarrel was 
indeed 'fastened on him.' Generous as brave, 
he had done every thing in his power, to in- 
duce a withdrawal of the challenge, and 
when, by a first fire, his adversary was 
wounded, he anxiously desired that the affair 
might there terminate. His proposition was 
rejected, his second shot was fatal. What an 
instructive lesson does this story present to 
him who would resort to this mode of settling 
a personal difficulty ; and who possesses com' 



regret and sorrow, A short experience in the 
army convinced me, also, that fighting a duel 
was not an undoubted test of true courage. I 
know instances of duels, and desperate duels, 
being fought by men who would not have been 
selected by the officers who knew them, to 
lead a forlorn hope. On the contrary, I pos- 
sessed the most positive testimony to prove, 
that some of the bravest of men would not be 
engaged in an affair of the kind under any cir- 
cumstances. 

" Conformably to my plan, as stated in the 
commencement of my letter, to give you facts 
rather than arguments, I present you with an- 
other reminiscence of my early military life. 
1 introduce it not only to sustain my position, 
but from the respect I entertain for the memory 
of a gallant brotiier officer, long since called to 
receive, in another world, his reward for having 
preferred 'the praise of God to the praise of 
men.' In the summer of the year 1793, Lieu- 
tenant Drake of the infantry of the second sub- 
legion, received a marked insult from another 
officer. Manifesting no disposition to call him 
to an account, some of those who wished hira 
well, amongst whom I was one, spoke to him 
on the subject, expressing our fears that his 
reputation as an officer would greatly suffer, if 
he permitted such an insult to pass unnoticed. 
The answer that he gave me was, that he cared 
not what opinion the officers might form of 
him ; he was determined to pursue his own 
course. That course was so novel in the 
army, that it lost him, as I had supposed it 
would, the respect of nearly all the officers. 
The ensuing summer, however, gave Mr. 
Drake an opportunity of vindicating most 
triumphantly bis conduct and principles. He 
had been stationed in a small fortress, which 
had been erected by General Wayne during 
the winter, upon the spot in which they had 
the previous day deposited a quantity of pro- 
visions, which had been rendered remarkable 
by the defeat of Gen. St. Clair's army, three 
years before. The garrison consisted of a 
single rifle company, and thirty infantry, and 
of the latter Drake was the immediate com- 
mander. In the beginning of July, 1794, a 
detachment of the army, consisting of several 
hundred men, under the command of Major 
McMahon, being encamped near the fort, 
which they had escorted from the cantonment 
of the army at Greenville, were attacked, 
early in the morning, by upwards of three 
thousand Indians. The troops made a gallant 
resistance; but being turned on both flanks, 
and in danger of being surrounded, they re- 
treated to the open ground around the fort, 

"From this, too, they were soon dislodged 
by the overpowering force of the enemy ; in 
the retreat many wv^unded men were in dan- 
ger of being left, which being observed from 



General Harrison's opin ion of Duelling. 



43 



the fort, the commandant, Captain Gibson, 

directed his own lieutenant to take the infan- 
try (Drake's particular command) and a por- 
tion of the riflemen, and sally out to their 

relief. To this Drake objected, and claimed 

the right to command his own men, and as a 

senior" to the other lieutenant, his right also to 

the whole command. ' O, very well, sir,' 

said the captain, 'if such is your wish, take 

it.' 'It is my wish, sir, to do my duty, and 

I will endeavour to do it, now and at all 

times,' was the modest reply of Drake. He 

accordingly sallied out; skilfully interposed 

liis detacliment between the retreating troops 

and the enemy ; opened upon them a hot fire ; 

arrested their advance, and gave an oppor- 
tunity to the wounded to effect their escape, 

and to the broken and retreating companies of 

our troops to re-form and again to face the 

enemy. Throughout the whole affair, Drake's 

activity, skill, and extraordinary self-posses- 
sion, was most conspicuous. The enemy, of 

course, observed it, as well as his friends. 

The numerous shots directed at him, however, 

like the arrows of Teucer, aimed at the heart 

of Hector, were turned aside by providential 

interference, until he had accomplished all 

that he had been sent to perform. He then 

received a ball through his body and fell; a 

faithful corporal came to his assistance, and 

with his aid he reached the fort; and those 

two were the last of the retreating [>arty that 

entered it; Drake made it a point of honour 

that Tl should be so. Mr. Drake was rendered 
unfit for duty for a long time by his wound. 
He had not, indeed, recovered from it, in the 
summer of 1796, when he was my guest, 
when in command at Fort Washington, (Cin- 
cinnati.) on his way, on furlough, to visit his 
native state, Connecticut. His friends, how- 
ever, enjoyed his presence but a short time ; 
having, as I understood, taken the yellow 
fever, in passing through Philadelphia, he 
died in a few days after he reached his home. 
" I have yet another reminiscence, the rela- 
tion of which may serve the cause you have 
so much at heart : 

"An officer of the army had so often and so 
unnecessarily wounded the feelings of another 
of the same corps, the duties of which made 
their association indispensable, that he con- 
sidered himself bound to demand satisfaction 
in the usual way. They met, and the injured 
' man fell, receiving a mortal wound, as it was 
anticipated he would, from the superior skill 
of his antagonist in the use of the weapons 
which they used. Being possessed of a high 
grade of '.alents and an amiable character, he 
had the sympathy of all the officers. With 
others, I visited him after he had been re- 
moved to his quarters. He expressed a desire 
to see the officer with whom he had fought, 
and 1 was present at the interview. 1 wish I 
could describe, as it merits, this interesting 
scene. The circumstaoces attending it were formiiy to them. But such, alas! is not the 



so deeply impressed upon my mind that they 
never can be effaced as long as memory holds 
its seat. 

"In the tent were some half-dozen officers, 
the friends of the dying man, (for, as I have 
said, he had, from his amiable qualities, many 
and warm ones,) exhibiting unequivocal evi- 
dences of their sorrow. Conspicuous above 
the rest, and near the head of the rude couch, 
was the manly form of the commandant of the 
corps to which both the duellists belonged, 
(the beau ideal of chivalrous valour, and the 
Chevalier de Bayard of the army,) endeavour- 
ing to stifle, as best he could, the feelings 
which agitated his bosom. At a little dis- 
tance, and in full view of the viclitn of his 

passions, sat the insensible : but I must 

restrain the indignation which I still feel. 
He was my brother officer — we shared to- 
gether the perils of a difficult war — and, in 
battle, I know that he did his duty — and, 
whatever might have been his conduct to 
others, I never had personally any reason to 
complain of him. But there he sat, apparently, 
at least, unaffected by the mischief he had 
done, by burying in an untimely grave, a man 
who had never injured him, whose arm might 
be needed in the pending decisive battle with 
the hitherto triumphant enemies of his coun- 
try, and whose intellect might at some future 
time have been usefully employed in its coun- 
cils. The severe bodily pain which the dying 
officer had for some time suffered, had ceased, 
and that calm and ease succeeded, which is 
the unequivocal harbinger of approaching 
death, and which a gracious Providence has 
provided for the mortally wounded soldier, to 
enable him to offer a last prayer for his distant 
family, if he has one, or for the pardon of his 
own sins. Turning his intelligent ey«5 upon 
his late antagonist, he mildly said, 'he had 
desired to see him, for the purpose of assuring 
him of his sincere forgiveness — that he wished 
him happiness in this world — and that as the 
means of securing it, he recommended to him, 
with the sincerity of a dying man, to endea- 
vour (0 restrain the violence of his passion?, 
the indulgence of which had deprived one of 
life, who had never injured him, in thought or 
deed.' * 

"I am satisfied that what I have said above 
does not entirely meet your inquiry, and that 
you will expect me to state what effect the 
scenes I have described had in forming my 
own principles, and governing my own con- 
duct. I have already stated an entire change 
in my sentiments on the subject of duelling, 
from those which I entertained upon my first 
entering the army; and for which no excuse 
can be offered, but my extreme youth, and the 
bad examples continually before me. In 
almost every other case, possessed of the 
deliberate opinions of a man, you might safely 
conclude that his conduct would be in con- 



44 



Harrison noviinaled fur the Presidency in 1838. 



ca?e with men of the world, in relation to the 
laws which form ' the code of honour.' Ah- 
strartedly considored, ihfy all condemn them, 
while in practice they adopt them. In all 
other cases, iiidependent men act "from their 
own convictions, but in this case, upon the 
opinions of others. 

"I acknowledfje, then, that the charige of 
my opinions, which 1 have admitted in rela- 
tion to duelling, had no other influence on my 
conduct than to determine me never to be the 
aggressor. But, although resolved to ofTer no 
insult nor to inflict any injury, I was deter- 
mined to suffer none. When I left the army, 
howeve/, and retired to civil life, I considered 
myselfaulhorized greatly to narrow the ground 
upon which I would be willing to resort to a 
personal combat. To the determinatifin which 
I had previously made, to offer no insult or 
inflict any injury to give occasion to any one 
to call upon me in this way, (for after witness- 
ing the last scene which i have described, the 
wealth and honours of the %vorld would not 
have tempted me to level a pistol at the breast 
of a man whom 1 injured,) I resolved to disre- 
gard all remarks upon my conduct which 
could not be construed into a deliberate insult, 
or any injury which did not affect my reputa- 
tion or the happiness and peace of my family. 
When I had the honour to be called upon to 
command the northwestern army, recollecting 
the number of gallant men that had fallen in 
the former war, in jiersonal combat, 1 deter- 
mined to use all the authority and all the 
influence of my station to prevent their recur- 
rence. And, to take away the principal 
source from which they spring, in an address 
to the Pennsylvania brigade, at Sandusky, I 
declared it to be my determination to prevent, 
by all the means that the military laws placed 
in my hands, any injury, or even insult, which 
should be offered, by the superior to the infe- 
rior officers. 1 cannot say what influence this 
course, upon my part, may have produced in 
the result. But I state, with pleasure, that 
there was not a single duel, nor, as far as 1 
know, a challenge given, whilst I retained the 
command. The activity in which the army 
was constantly kept, may, however, have 
been the principal cause of this uncommon 
harmony. 

"In relation to my present sentiments, a 
sense of higher obligations than human laws, 
or human opinions, can impose, has deter- 
mined me never, on any occasion, to accept a 
challenge, or seek redress for a personal in- 
jury, by a resort to the laws which compose 
the code of honour. 

"I am, very respectfully, 

" Your fellow-citizen, 

" VV. H. HARIilSON. 

*' To Aaron B. Howell, Esq.'' 



GENERAL HARRISON S NOMINA FION BY THE 
CONVENTION OF 1838. HIS LETTER TO 
HAUMKR DENNY. 

In i!ie atitiiinn of 1838 Genrrnl Harrison 
was nominated as a candidate for lire Presi- 
dency by tiie National Democratic Anti- 
Masonic Convention, which assembled at 
Marrisbiirg, iti Pennsylvania. The pro- 
ceedings of this convention were coninuiiii- 
cated iifficially ta General Harrison by the 
Hon. Hariner Denny. Hts reply to this 
communiciuion, dated December 2il, 1838, 
which we give below in fnll, will show the 
princijiles on whicli he will administer the 
government. 

" Norlli Bend, 2(1 Dec. 1838. 

" Dear Sir : — As it is probable that yon 
have by this time returned to Pittsburg, I do 
myself the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
of your letter from Philadelphia, containing 
the proceedings of the National Democratic 
Antimasonic Convention, which lately- con- 
vened in that city. With feelings of the 
deepest gratitude, 1 read the resolution unani- 
mously adopted, nominating me as a candi- 
date for the Presidency of ihe United Stales. 
This is the second time that I have received 
from that patriotic parly, of which yon your- 
self are a distinguished member, the highest 
evidence of confidence that can be giveri to a 
citizen of our republic. 1 would attempt to 
describe my sense of the obligations I owe 
them, if I were not convinced that any lan- 
friiage which I coidd command would fall' far 
short of what 1 really feel. If, however, the 
wishes of the convention should be realized, 
and if I should second their efforts, I shall 
have it in my })owcr to manifest my gratitude 
in a manner more acceptable lo those whom 
you represent, than by any professions of it 
which I could at this time make; I mean by 
exerting my utmost efforts lo carry out the 
principles set forth in their resolutions, by 
arresting the progress of the measures 'de- 
structive to the prosperity of the people, and 
tending to the subversion of their liberties,' 
and substituting for them those sound demo- 
cratic republican doctrines upon which the 
administration of Jefferson and Madison were 
conducted. 

"Among the principles proper to be adopted 
by any Executive sincerely desirous to restore 
the administration lo its original simplicity 
and purity, I deem the following to be of pro- 
minent importance. 

" I. To CONFINE HIS SERVICE TO A SINGLE 
TERM. 

" II. To DISCLAIM ALL RIGHT OF CONTROL 

OVER THE Fi'BLic TREASURE, icith the excep- 
tion of such part of it as may be appropriated 
by low to carry on ihe public services, and 



Letter to the Hon. Ilarmcr Denny. 



45 



iluii to be applied precisely as the law may 
direct, and draicn from the treasury agreeably 
to the long established forms of that dejnirt- 
tnent. 

" III. That he should never attempt to 
INFLUENCE THE ELECTIONS, cUhcr by the pcople 
or the state legislatures, nor suffer the federal 
offlccrs under his control to take any other 
part in them than by giving their oicn votes 
token they possess the right of voting. 

"IV. That in the exercise of the veto 
power, he should limit his rejection of bills 
to : 1st. Such as are in his opinion unconsti- 
tutional. 2d, Such as tend to encroach on 
the rights of the states or individuals. 3d. 
Such as, involving deep interests, may in his 
opinion require more mature deliberation or 
reference to the ivill of the people, to be ascer- 
tained at the succeeding elections. 

'* V. That he should never suffer the in- 
fluence of his ojjice to be used for purposes of 
a purely party character. 

" VI. That in removals from office of those 
who hold their appointments during the plea- 
sure of the Executive, the cause of such 
removal should be slated if requested, to the 
Senate, at the time the nomination ef a suc- 
cessor is made. 

"And last, but not least in importance, 

''VII. That he should not suffer the Exe- 
cutive department of the governinent to become 
the source of legislation ; but leave the whole 
business of making laivs for the Union to the 
departmeiit to which the constitution has ex- 
clusively assigned it, until they liiroe assumed 
that perfected shape tohere and when alone the 
opinio7is of the Executive may be heard. A 
cooimiinity of power in the preparation of the 
laws between the legislature and Executive 
(lepartnienls, must, necessarily lead to danger- 
ous combinali Dns, greatly to the advantage of 
a President desirous of extending his power. 
Such a construction of the constitution could 
never have been contemplated by tiiose who 
framed it, as they well knew that tiiose who 
propose the bills, will always take care of 
themselves, or the interests of their consti- 
tuents, and hence the provision in the Consti- 
tution, borrowed from that of England, re- 
stricting tlie originating of revenue bills to 
tiie immediate representatives of the people. 
So far from agreeing in opinion with the dis- 
tinguished character who lately retired from 
the presidency, that Congress should have 
applied to him for a project of a hanking sys- 
tem, I think that sucji an application would! 
have manifested not "only great subserviency! 
upon the part of that body, but an unpardona- 
ble ignorance of the chief danger to be appre- 
hended from such an institution. That danger' 
unquestionably consists in a union of i.itere'sts ! 
between tiie executive and the bank. Would 
an ambiiious4ncumbent of the executive chair j 
neglect so favourable an opportunity as the! 
preparing of the law would give hira, to insert] 



in it provisions to secure his influence over it ? 
In the authority given to the President by the 
Constitution 'to recommend to Congress such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and ex- 
pedient,' it was certainly never intended that 
the measures he recommended should be pre- 
sented in a shape suited for the immediate 
decision of the legislature. The sages who 
made the Constitution, loo well knew the ad- 
vantages which the crown of England derives 
from the exercise of this power by its minis- 
ters, to have intended it to be used by our 
chief magistrate, or the heads of departments 
under his control. The boasted principles of 
the English ('onstiiution, that the consent of 
the democratic branch is not only necessary 
to receive money from the people, but that it 
is its inviolable prerogative also to originate 
all the bills for that purpose, is true in theory, 
but rendered utterly false and nugatory in 
effect, by the participation of the ministers of 
the crown in the details of legislation. Indeed 
the influence they derive from silting as mem- 
bers of the House of Common's, and from 
wielding the immense patronage of the crown 
(constitutional or usurped,) gives them a power 
over that body, that renders plausible, at least, 
the flattery, or as it is more probable, the in- 
tended sarcasm of Sir Walter Raleigh, in an 
address to James I., that the demand of the 
sovereign upon the Commons for pecuniary 
aid, was required only 'that the lax might 
seem to come from themselves.' 

"Having thus given you my opinion of 
some things which might be done, and others 
which should not be done, by a President 
coming into power by the support of those of 
the people who are opposed to the princifdes 
upon which the present administration is con- 
ducted, you will see that I have omitted one, 
which is deemed by many of as much import- 
ance as any other. I allude to the appointment 
of members of Congress to office by the Pre- 
sident. The Constitution contains no prohibi- 
tion of such appointments, no doubt because 
its authors could not believe in its necessity, 
from the purity of character which was mani- 
fested by those who possessed the confidence 
of the people at that period. It is, however, 
an opinion very generally entertained by the 
opposition party, that the country would have 
escaped much of the evil under which it has 
suffered for some years past, if the Constitu- 
tion had contained a provision of that kind. 
Having had no opportunity of personal obser- 
vation on the conduct of the administration 
for the last ten years, I am unable to decide 
upon the truth or error of this opinion. But 
I should be very willing that the known sub- 
serviency of the Legislature to the Executive, 
in several memorable instances, should be ac- 
counted for in a way somewhat less injurious 
to the character of the country and of republi- 
canism itself, than by the admission that the 
fathers of the land, the trusted servants of a 



46 



Letter to the Hon. Harmer Denny. 



virtuous people, could be seduced from the 
path of duty and honour, by the paltry trap- 
pings and emoluments of dependent offices. 
But if the evil really exists, and if there be 
good reason to believe that its source is to be 
found in the corruptibility of the members of 
the Legislature, an effectual remedy cannot be 
too soon applied. And it happens in this in- 
stance that there is a choice of remedies. One 
of those, however, is in my opinion free from 
the objections which might be offered to the 
other. The one to which I object is, that 
which the late President has been so loudly 
called upon to adopt, in consequence of a pro- 
mise made at the commencement of liis admi- 
nistration, viz. that the Executive under no 
circumstances should appoint to office a mem- 
ber of either branch of the National Legisla- 
ture. There are, in my mind, several weighty 
reasons against the adoption of tiiis principle. 
I will detain you with the mention of but two 
of them, because I believe that you will agree 
with me, that the alternative I shall present, 
while it would be equally effectual, contains 
no feature to which a reasonable objection 
could be made. 

"As the Constitution contains no provision 
to prevent the appointment of Members of 
Congress to office by the Executive, could the 
Executive, with a due regard to delicacy and 
justice, without usurping power from the peo- 
ple, declare a disqualification which tliey had 
not thought necessary ] And where is the 
American citizen who regards the honour of 
his country, the character of its people, or who 
believes in the superiority of a republican form 
of government, who would be willing to pro- 
claim to the world, that the youthful nation 
which has attracted so much of its attention, 
which it has so much admired for its gigantic 
strength, its undaunied courage, its high at- 
tainments in literature and the arts, and the 
external beauty of its institutions, was within 
a mass of meanness and corruption ] That 
even the chosen servants of the people, were 
ever ready, for a paltry consideration, to aban- 
don their allegiance to their lawful sovereigns, 
and to become the servants of a servant. The 
alternative to this degrading course, is to be 
found in depriving the Executive of all motive 
for acquiring an improper influence^pver the 
Legislature. "v. 

"To effect this, nothing in my opinion is 
necessary but to re-establish the principles 
upon which the administration was once con- 
ducted, with a single addition of limiting the 
service of the President to one term. A con- 
densed enumeration of what I conceive these 
principles to have been, is given above. And 
I think no one can doubt, that, if faithfully 
carried out, they would be effectual in secur- 
ing the independence of the Legislature, and 
confining the connexion between it and the 
Executive, to that alone which is warranted 



by a fair construction of the Constitution. I 
can conceive of but two motives which could 
induce a President of the United States to en- 
deavour to procure a controlling influence over 
the Legislative body, viz. — to perpetuate his • 
power, by passing laws to increase his patron- 
age—or to gratify his vanity, by obtaining 
their sanction to his schemes and projects for 
the government of the country ; and thus 
assimilating his situation to that of the 
limited monarchs of Europe. The principles 
above suggested, would effectually destroy 
any disposition of the person elected by the 
combined votes of the opposition, to place 
himself in either altitude. Retiring at the 
end of four years to private life, with no wish 
or prospect of any 'son of bis succeeding,' 
legitimate or adopted, he would leave the 
government as prosperous and pure in its 
administration, as when it passed from the 
hands of the great 'Apostle of Democracy,' 
to the Father of our Constitution. 

"To the duties which I have enumerated, 
so proper in my opinion to be performed by a 
President, elected by the opposition to the 
present administration, (and which are, as I 
believe, of constitutional obligation,) 1 will 
add another which I believe also to be of 
much importance. I mean the observance of 
the most conciliatory course of conduct to- 
wards our political opponents. After the cen- 
sure which our friends have so freely and so 
justly bestowed tipon the present Chief Magi- 
strate, for having, in no inconsiderable de- 
gree, disfranchised the whole body of his 
political opponents, I am certain that no oppo- 
sitionists, true to the principles he professes, 
would approve a similar course of conduct in 
the person whom his vote has contributed to 
elect. In a Republic, one of the surest tests 
of a healthy state of its institutions, is to be 
found in the immunity with which every citi- 
zen may, upon all occasions, express his poli- 
tical opinions and even his prejudice;', in the 
discharge of his duty as an elector. 

" The question may perhaps be asked of me, 
what security I have in my power to offer, if 
the majority of the American people should 
select me for their Chief Magistrate, that I 
would adopt the principles which I have 
herein laid down as those upon which my 
administration would be conducted, I could 
only answer, by referring to my conduct, and 
the disposition manifested in the discharge of 
the duties of several important offices, which 
have heretofore been conferred upon me. If 
the power placed in my hands has, on even a 
single occasion, been used for any purpose 
other than that for which it was given, or re- 
tained longer than was necessary to accom- 
plish the objects designated by those from 
whom the trusts were received, I will acknow- 
ledge that either will constitute a sufficient 
reason f«r discrediting any promise I may 



General Hm^rison's nominaiioyi by the National Convention. 47 



make, under the circumstances in which I am 
now placed. 

"I am, dear sir, truly yours, 

" W. H. Harrison. 
" To the Hon. Harmer Denny.'''' 

The noble and purely republican sen- 
timents of this letter, together with its 
plain, yet manly and vigorous language, 
forcibly remind us of the invaluable writ- 
ings of our revered Washington. 

NOMINATION OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 
BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 

In December, 1839, a National Con- 
vention of the opponents of the present 
administration of all parties, assembled at 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This Con- 
vention comprised numerous delegates se- 
lected from among the most respectable, 
intelligent, and patriotic citizens o{ Maine, 
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Mis- 
sissippi, JMissouri, Illinois, Mabama, and 
Michigan. This august and dignified as- 
semblage, representing every variety of 
interest in every portion of the country, 
after a calm and mature deliberation, re- 
sponded to the wishes of the people of the 
United Slates, by unanimously nominating 
William Henry Harrison, as their can- 
didate for the Presidency, in 1840. Since 
this nomination was made, the thinned 
ranks of the administration party, the evi- 
dent dismay of the office-holders, and the 
avowed determination of the people to 
vote for their own candidate, clearly indi- 
cate that an important change is about to 
take place — that the nation is at last wearied 
of the corruption of their present rulers, 
their dishonesty, and abuse of power, and 
that the administration of onr government 
is soon to be confided to the guidance of 
the brave and skilful commander, the honest 
and able statesman, and the poor man's 
friend — William Henry Harrison. 



GOVERNOR EVERETT S OPINION OF GENERAL 
HARRISON. 

Soon after this nomination. Governor 
Everett, whose elevated position places him 
above the charge of being influenced 



distinguished attainments and profound 
scholarship are widely kn'>wn, in his reply 
to the committee appointed to inform him 
of his re-nominalion for the office of Go- 
vernor of Massachusetts, spoke of General 
Harrison in the following well-merited 
terms : 

" Having been familiarly acquainted with 
General Harrison at Washington, during the 
four years of President Adams's administration, 
I have ample and personal knowledge of his 
' honesty, capacity, and patriotism.' His ta- 
lents are of a high order; his general reading 
particularly in the department of history, is 
extensive and accurate ; he is a good speaker 
and a good writer, [witness his discourse on 
the Aborigines of the valley of the Ohio, in 
1838,] his practical acquaintance with affairs is 
exceeded by that of few individuals in the 
country, and his public services have been 
extended over a longer period I believe than 
those of any other man now on the stage. 
Warmly attached, as I have been to the former 
candidate of Massachusetts, I still regard the 
nomination of General Harrison as a most 
favourable event. The country is under the 
hiorhest obligations to those distinoruished 
Statesmen, whose magnanimity has produced 
a perfect union of the whig party in its support. 
I feel confident that this nomination will prove 
the means of effecting that change in national 
politics, which has became so necessary for 
the public welfare. The country needs relief 
from the policy pursued by the General Go- 
vernment, and the intense party action by 
which it has thus far been sustained. The 
continued appeal to the worst passions of men, 
by the party press, is scarcely less pernicious 
than the measures in the support of which those 
passions are enlisted. It is evident, from in- 
dications too plain to be mistaken, that the 
peo])le have decreed a change, and that the 
nomination of General Harrison is the instru- 
ment by which it will be effected. That it 
may prove auspicious to our beloved Com- 
monwealth, and to the whole country, the 
harbinger of better times and better feelings, 
is the fervent wish of, 

" Gentlemen, your obliged 

"Friend, and obedient servant, 

" Edward Everett." 



CONCLUSION. 



Our confined limits have only permitted 
us to make short extracts from the nume- 
rous speeches, addresses, and written pro- 
ductions of General Harrison, and it has 
therefore not been in our power to do him 
full justice. Still, even tiie quotations we 



merely by political motives, and whose jiiave made are enough to convince every 



48 



Harrison the candidal e of the People — Conclusion. 



/L 



unprtJudiceJ reaJer that General IIiirrHonj William Henry Harrison, were formed 
possesses a comprehensive and vigorons under the parent.U instrueiioi) and in the 



nunc!, well cuhivated and improved by 
uiiK'h study and deep reflection — and that he 
is a!jable and ready writer, and asnund sclio- 
iar, familiar vita the literature of llie day, 
and Weil versetl in the history of the past. 
From eaily manhood, General Harrison 



Ultimate companionship of the patriolii; 
sages of the Revolution — and tlie principles 
he then iml)il)ed have been his unerring- 
tjuide through life. Enjcwing the con'^- 
fidenceof Washington, Adams, Jeffkrson, 
and Madjson, he was, on all occasions. 



lias never had the appearance of possessing Iconspicuous for his moderation in offioe, 
a robust consiiluiion, but from the aciiviiy jhis scrupulous attention to the public in- 
and temperate habits of his past life, few ; lerests, his inflexible integrity, and his 
men ai liis age enjoy their moral and phy- 'extended atid enlightened views'as a states- 
sical energies in such remarkable vigour. ' man. Repeatedly appointed by the Pre- 
His manners are plain, frank, and Unas- sidents we h ive named, to stations of gftat 
suming, and his disposition is cheerful, 'importance and liisfh responsibility, he has 
kind, and generous, almost to a fault, in always amply fullilled the duties of his 
{lis private intercourse, he is beloved and various trusts to the entire satisfaction of 



esteemed by all who know him. In 
the various civil and military offices he has 
held, hu has always been moderate and 
forbearing, yet firm and true to his trust. 
No other commander has ever been more 
popular with our militia, and the true secret 
of this cannot be better explained than bv 
liis own reply, « hen asked how he had 
gained this influence : " By treating ihcm," 
fcaid he, '* with afloclion and kimlness ; by 
always re(r(j!lei'ting that they u-ere n-.y 
fellow-citizens, whose feelings I was bound 
to respect ; and by sharing with tliem, on 
every oci5i\sion, tlie hard-hips which they 
were obliged to u idcrgo." 

Tlie earliest political sentiments of 



the people and of the Cliief Executive. 
He has been weighed in the balance and 
NOT found wanting — IJc haa been tried 
in the furnace and come out like true 
gold seven limes purified^ 

Such is the candidate of the people, 
William Henry Harrison — to whom the 
administration of the government of the 
United States is about lo be confidetl, and 
who, as the gloiious reward of all his past 
services, will have the highest of all earthly 
honours — lint of redeeming his country 
from hei present slate of misery anil de- 
pression, and of restoring her to that proud 
position of hapjtiness and prosperity, wh.ch 
is her natural birihriuht. 



FINIS. 



• PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY C. SHERMAN & CO. 19 ST. JAiMES STREET. 
Orders to our address {jpostagc paid) promptly atteruled to. 

Price $30 per 1000; 91 per 100. 

FOR SALE BY 

MAKSHALL, WILLIAMS AND BUTLER ; GRIGG AND LLLIOT ; HOGAN AND 
TiI03IFS0N ; G. \V. MENTZ AND SON ; m'cARTY AND DAVIS ; 
THOMAS, COWPERTIIWAIT AND CO. ; AND THE 
BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGH- 
OUT THE UNITED STATES. 



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